Publicado originalmente desde New Castle Herald
CRITICS of Newcastle University’s controversial $88 million maintenance contract with the company managing Australia’s offshore detention centres have slammed the university after Hunter sub-contractors were ordered to find an immediate 10 per cent pay cut, and given just weeks to find another cut of up to 10 per cent.
Up to 30 sub-contractors have received emails in the past few weeks from Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfield Services, calling for significant cuts in fees payable under contracts signed after a tender process.
Broadspectrum sent the emails less than a year after contracts were signed.
Sub-contractors were advised that “based on experience, Broadspectrum estimates that you would have realised efficiencies in the order of 15-20 per cent”.
Not happy: University of Newcastle students protest in September after the university signed a controversial $88 million maintenance contract with the then Transfield Services, now known as Broadspectrum.
“To enable Broadspectrum to remain competitive we would expect that these benefits are shared with Broadspectrum and delivered in two phases,” Broadspectrum wrote.
Sub-contractors were told that in phase one “you will provide a 10 per cent discount on all services delivered with no change to current service delivery levels”.
In phase two sub-contractors are required to make “further efficiency gains” by making “changes to current work methods or use of consumables, materials or equipment” that “where possible should not have a negative impact on the service delivery levels”.
Sub-contractors were given less than a week to respond to phase one, and three weeks to respond to phase two.
A sub-contractor was near tears as he described a pay cut of up to 20 per cent as “impossible” after a tender process that required a slim profit margin.
Gosford Anglican priest Father Rod Bower, an outspoken critic of Australia’s offshore detention centres and the university’s contract with Broadspectrum/Transfield, said the contract pay cut demands were “outrageous but predicted” from a company that “profited from human misery” on Manus Island and Nauru.
Outraged: Gosford Anglican priest Rod Bower says Broadspectrum’s action against sub-contractors was predicted.
Late last year the then Transfield chairwoman Diane Smith-Gander sought a meeting with Newcastle Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson over Father Bower’s strident and public condemnation of the company outside his church and on social media. Bishop Thompson supported Father Bower.
Controversial: One of Anglican priest Rod Bower’s signs that led to talks between Newcastle Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson and the then Transfield chairwoman Diane Smith-Gander.
National Tertiary Education Union Newcastle branch president Tom Griffiths said he was “appalled and outraged” that the university was associated with a company that appeared to show little respect for contracts, and demanded pay cuts in the way Broadspectrum had.
“I feel terrible for small businesses and sub-contractors affected in this way,” Associate Professor Griffiths said.
“The university is a public institution that claims to be a member of the community, and should be a good employer. The likelihood of sub-contractors and workers having to accept cuts in pay and conditions was one reason for the union’s strong objection to outsourcing this work.
“The university said there would be significant savings and no drop in service, and the only way that’s achieved is by this sort of thing.”
In March the university announced an overhaul of its infrastructure and facilities services, with 33 positions shed as campus services are outsourced to external contractors.
Broadspectrum is expected to be announced as a successful contractor of some of the work.
Associate Professor Griffiths said the university had an enduring commitment to social justice but the Broadspectrum contract was “an aberration that jars sharply with this commitment, and with community expectations”.
Appalled: University of Newcastle Associate Professor Tom Griffiths at a protest in 2015 against the university signing a contract with Broadspectrum.
He said workers would have to accept a cut in pay and conditions if they managed to secure work with the new contractors.
In a statement the university said it entered into a head contract with Transfield Services, now Broadspectrum, in 2015 “as historical commercial arrangements were not competitive with sector benchmarks, or delivering the value which would reasonably be expected”.
“The new head contract has enabled UON to deliver better quality services and return significant funds back into teaching, learning, research and innovation,” the statement said.
“UON is aware that Broadspectrum, like all other businesses, routinely enters into commercial negotiations with its various subcontractors, to improve the efficiency of service they receive.
“UON is not party to the commercial relationship or negotiations that occur between Broadspectrum and their subcontractors.
“However, UON ensures that it rigorously manages the contract with Broadspectrum and that the services delivered comply with the agreed terms and conditions, including verifying that Broadspectrum has paid the staff and subcontractors that are employed by them.
“UON remains committed to ensuring that the terms of its contract with Broadspectrum are adhered to, and that the appropriate mechanisms for review and management of the contract exist.”
Broadspectrum did not respond to questions.
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