THE University of Newcastle Students' Association is calling on the institution to justify the size of pay rises given to its senior executives, as the university sheds 120 jobs as part of its controversial restructure.
The university's annual report for 2020 showed Vice Chancellor Alex Zelinsky's average total remuneration package grew from $850,422 in 2019 to $868,533.
Professor Zelinsky put his increase towards a $25,000 contribution to the COVID-19 Hardship Appeal to support students in need.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer's packages grew from $502,087 to $517,705, while the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer's packages grew from $375,388 to $385,475.
Other executive staff saw their packages drop from $285,067 to $261,514.
The university says the pay rises mirror the scheduled two per cent increases given to staff last September under their enterprise bargaining agreements (EBA).
The institution had asked the National Tertiary Education Union Newcastle branch to agree to delay this increase as a cost-saving measure.
The branch said it would, if UON ensured job security. The increases were not delayed.
UNSA president Luka Harrison said students couldn't understand how UON could justify pay rises for staff on close to seven figures incomes, but couldn't afford to keep staff on five figure incomes.
"There's a difference between everyday workers earning a two per cent pay rise and bosses on nearly $1 million giving themselves a pay rise," Mr Harrison said.
"Nobody on nearly a million dollars a year needs or deserves a pay rise when staff making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year less are being sacked. There's no logic to it. It doesn't make sense."
Mr Harrison said if decisions were being made in the best interests of the university, senior executives would be facing pay cuts.
"Students would prefer it if money was spent on keeping valuable staff employed, not giving raises to people that are already more than well compensated," he said.
Professor Zelinsky said in a statement to the Newcastle Herald that "in response to the economic shock of COVID-19 in 2020, the university asked all staff to consider and accept a proposal to pause the annual salary incremental increase for 2020 as a short-term, one-off cost-saving measure. This proposal was not agreed, and so all staff, including senior executive, received their increment in 2020."
The EBA does not cover the Vice Chancellor, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Pro Vice Chancellors or staff appointed Heads of School.
NTEU Newcastle branch acting president, Associate Professor Terrence Summers, said the union understood and shared UNSA's concerns about the senior executives' pay rises.
"Staff are losing their jobs, students are losing their supervisors, students haven't got the same course offerings they used to have," Associate Professor Summers said. "There is less money for tutorials and part-time support, I suspect students are going to feel the brunt of some of that.
"I can understand why UNSA has raised concerns in an environment where the university seems to be cutting everything else they possibly can, [but] they don't seem to cutting that thing that they possibly could."
Associate Professor Summers said he didn't oppose anyone receiving pay rises, because the cost of living was rising. "But the argument that executive pay rises are okay because they're in line with the EBA is completely flawed - but I would be perfectly happy for executive staff to be covered by the EBA," he said.
"The argument that executive salaries should be pegged to the EBA is a silly argument.
"Their salary increases should be pegged to performance and if they're not pegged to performance, then they should be."
Nobody on nearly a million dollars a year needs or deserves a pay rise when staff making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year less are being sacked.
Luka Harrison, president of the UNSA
