6 November 2015
Tertiary Education Union - Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa

Unitec privatises 55 student support jobs

Unitec’s plan to take jobs from 55 people who support students, and hand them to a private call centre is a travesty says TEU national president Sandra Grey.

Grey says most TEU members’ jobs are not directly affected at this point because the union represents mostly academic staff at the polytechnic, but they are deeply concerned about the impact the restructuring will have on their administration colleagues and their students.

Unitec’s chief executive Rick Ede told staff today that he has decided to privatise Unitec’s student support services and proceed with further plans which could lead to 300 people losing their jobs.

Sid Suha Aksoy, who works at Unitec says staff are in shock.

“I am very disappointed. Unitec has not listened to all our positive approaches. We are really worried about what this means for our colleagues, friends and, naturally, our students. We can’t see why Unitec would want to fix something that works so well.”

Aksoy says union members will protest the decision next Friday, 13 November.

“We have a positive alternative that gives students a better education and Unitec a better future. Unitec has time to choose this better path for its students and the people who work for its students.”

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