Stop Job Cuts At EIT!

TEU members across all campuses at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) are expressing solidarity with colleagues in the School of Business – Auckland Campus, who are facing job cuts, and opposing management’s proposal to reduce staffing by 3 FTE. A petition has been launched calling on EIT Chief Executive Chris Collins to halt the disestablishment of positions.

EIT’s job cuts proposal is a reaction to a reduction in international student enrolments at the Auckland Campus in the Schools of Business, Computing and Health Science which has contributed to a projected budget deficit.

However TEU EIT Auckland Delegate Stuart McAdam, who is one of the affected staff says, “the proposal to cut jobs has little or no financial benefit to EIT and the affected staff are highly-qualified and experienced. They are an asset to EIT and will be of considerable use to Te Pūkenga in the future. To remove them now will mean a loss to EIT and to Te Pūkenga but most of all to the students who will lose the relationships that they have with staff who care about them.”

In 2020, EIT Senior Management say they made a decision to protect existing staffing levels but apparently that decision doesn’t apply to 2021. TEU Branch President Gordon Reid says, “staff gave over and above to students and EIT during the lockdown when working from home. The pandemic is still here and EIT now need to show some reciprocal loyalty to staff during this temporary reduction in overseas students.”

It's hoped that yesterday’s budget announcement of a $279.5 million cash injection into vocational education has not come too late to stop yet more highly valuable people from being pushed out of their jobs.

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