Dunedin Green candidate Francisco Hernandez opposes the University of Otago’s proposal to gut hundreds of jobs from the University.

“This is a rash, impulsive move in response to a short-term fluctuation which will gut not only University, but the wider Dunedin community,” says Green Party Dunedin Candidate Francisco Hernandez

“University of Otago staff deserve secure working conditions with good pay. They deserve to be valued for the considerable expertise, acumen and networks they contribute to help make Otago a world-leading institution.

“Unfortunately, the University has gone down a short-sighted route of making cuts to its most valuable asset: the staff - rather than seeking to spend any of its considerable reserves or work with the Union to reverse decades of Government under-funding of the tertiary sector.

“The hundreds of staff losses that are being proposed will devastate our world-class University and will devastate the wider Dunedin community. This will have a wider impact on Dunedin than the proposed re-designs of the Hospital.

“We are calling on the wider Dunedin community to make some noise and get behind the staff and the Tertiary Education Union. Together we will stand up against these cuts and protect our University and our community,” says Francisco Hernandez.

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