Under a restructure, 250 Auckland University of Technology (AUT) staff could lose their jobs. Photo / NZME
Under a restructure, 250 Auckland University of Technology (AUT) staff could lose their jobs. Photo / NZME
Māori and Pacific academics at one of the country’s biggest universities are concerned about the impact of job cuts, with one saying the campus feels like a “morgue”.
Auckland University of Technology earlier this year proposed a restructure in an effort to reduce costs.
AUT’s Vice Chancellor, Damon Salesa, said the proposed cuts were driven by a decrease in international student enrolments, rising inflation and neighbouring economic pressures.
Under the proposal, 250 workers could lose their jobs, 170 of whom are academic teaching staff, after the university made a $12 million surplus in 2020 and 2021.
According to AUT’s 2021 annual report, Māori and Pacific peoples make up the lowest proportion of staff.
Half (50 per cent) of academic staff are of New Zealand European/Pākeha descent, with another 15 per cent Asian and 23 per cent other ethnicities (including Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African).
Damon Salesa. Photo / Supplied
Just 5 per cent of staff are Māori and another 2 per cent are Pacific.
While AUT said the restructure would not reduce the proportion of AUT academic staff who are Māori and/or Pacific, there are still concerns among academics over the welfare of Māori and Pacific staff over the long term.
Several AUT staff spoke anonymously to the Herald, with one academic being particularly concerned about the wording of the restructure proposal.
“I am particularly concerned because of the wording of what is being said – ‘the proportion of Māori and Pacific staff will not be reduced’ – but that does not mean to say that Māori and Pacific staff will not be made redundant.
“When it was proposed the proportion of Māori and Pacific staff will not be reduced, that could have provoked a lot of anti-Pasifika sentiment and anti-Māori sentiment because people could have said ‘why are these groups being protected?’
“I didn’t get a lot of that from anyone. Many people I know are very supportive of advancing Māori and Pacific academics.
“In terms of the Vice Chancellor not being what people thought he would be ... he may well be there advocating for Māori and Pasifika research centres for academics – that has not been said.
“Damon talks about that tika, pono and aroha (justice, truth and love) but I was speaking with a Māori academic, and she said that Māori [at AUT] have put a rāhui (prohibition) on those words because it is not being fulfilled at AUT.”
Another academic said many AUT staff were suffering a feeling of “desertion” over how they believed they’d been treated.
“What I can say, anonymously is that roles are going, staff in these roles are in deep uncertainty as the process plays out and the approach in terms of managing this process has deepened organisational politics of division, lack of trust and values alignment.
“My hope is that the roots of this leader and management legacy to date can be forgiven, attended to and healed as soon as the plan is completed,” they said.
Another lecturer from AUT, who has also requested anonymity, has likened the airiness on campus to a morgue.
“It’s like a morgue here – there’s a sense of doom everywhere and no one wants to be on campus. Office after office is empty, with people working from home.
“It’s very sad – this is usually a time of year for celebrating what we’ve achieved but instead it feels like there is a just another storm coming.”
The Tertiary Education Union branch president at AUT, David Sinfield, said the union’s members were “extremely upset” and deserved better.
“Making 230 [250] of them redundant and offering effective pay cuts to the rest not only makes a mockery of his stated gratitude but it puts the future of our university at risk,” he said.
