Staff at the Australian National University are considering industrial action in response to plans to shed 230 administrative jobs, raise parking fees and increase student loads.
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The National Tertiary Education Union said many staff were in shock considering the impact of job losses and increased teaching loads while they were also expected to come to grips with new administrative systems and to take all accrued leave to bring the budget back into line following a $51 million funding cut from the government.
NTEU ACT division president Deborah Veness said the union was still digesting the detail of a wide-ranging cost-cutting plan announced by vice-chancellor Ian Young on Tuesday but confirmed some staff members wanted to launch immediate strike action.
"We are consulting with our members and digesting the details of the package," Ms Veness said.
"We were all consulted about our ideas for cost-cutting but nobody suggested that all of them be implemented at the same time."
The union's concerns included financial projections that showed some colleges could bear the brunt of funding cuts more than others, with the College of Biology, Medicine and the Environment singled out as one expected to lose a lot.
But the executive director of administration and planning, Chris Grange, said the college budgets would not be finalised until November, and would depend on revenue streams and student loads that were yet to be determined.
The union said the move to a new electronic handbook database was creating pressure for staff who were now expected to consider early retirement or take annual leave. Some individual workloads could quickly become "completely impossible", Ms Veness said.
There was also widespread angst about the impact of significant fee rises for car parks in staff-reserved parking stations - from $871 a year to $2200 a year.
About 400 students also have reserved car parks but pay 50 per cent of the staff rate.
Mr Grange said the increase in parking fees was always going to cause a stir, but the new fees were still significantly lower than commercial car parking rates in the city.
"Staff can salary package their parking, and even after the new rates are paying about $4.65 a day. So I think their reaction is strong because they have had it so cheap for so long."
He said the staff reaction had been "pretty mixed" since Tuesday but the students' reaction had been largely positive.
"The students have been lining up to tell us the administrative processes need to be improved - and they will."
Mr Grange did not believe students considering the ANU for next year would be put off by the negative publicity surrounding the budget cuts.
"By far the biggest reaction from staff is over car parking, and we are watching the debate as it rolls along. Workload worries are also being expressed and we are mindful of this and understand it is going to be a bit of a juggle while we get our new processes in place," he said.
