Sustained pressure from the Staff Association has resulted in a reduction of proposed job cuts in CSIRO’s Manufacturing and Minerals business units.
Management at both Manufacturing and Minerals have revised down last year’s estimates of proposed redundancies by up to 50 pe in each case.
The Staff Association lodged a dispute with CSIRO last November to challenge the conduct of the redundancy process and to ensure the organisation complied with legal obligations as outlined in the Enterprise Agreement (EA).
Minerals dig deeper to reduce redundancies
Following last year’s initial survey predicting 42 jobs lost, CSIRO’s Minerals business unit has provided an improved analysis of likely redundancies. Voluntary Redundancy Substitution (VRS) – an EA condition that allows CSIRO to retain staff who want to stay by matching those with similar skill sets that want to leave – is due to save eight jobs.
A further 11 positions will or are very likely to be saved by mitigation and redeployment to other CSIRO business units. While another two roles remain within assessment processes, potentially involuntarily redundant positions have fallen from the initial estimate of 42 – following VRS and positions saved through redeployment and other mitigation – to 21 jobs.
Manufacturing downsize cuts
While the potential redundancy process has evolved slower in Manufacturing – the current scenario points to a reduced number of job cuts – about 50% less than the initial forecast of 35 positions.
Three CSIRO staff will retain employment via VRS matching while 15 Manufacturing positions are on track to be saved via mitigation or redeployment. While seven CSIRO staff have been confirmed as potentially redundant at this point, another ten currently remain within the assessment process.
Cloud over Waurn Ponds
While the reduction in Manufacturing job cuts will come as welcome news to most CSIRO staff, the future of workers located at the Waurn Ponds site – co-located with Deakin University – is not good.
Despite the laboratory’s recent acclaim as home to Australia’s carbon-fibre breakthrough – hailed by CSIRO Chief Larry Marshall on national television – fears abound that research into other fibre technologies will no longer be supported.
“CSIRO’s Manufacturing capabilities at Waurn Ponds are already small, yet are set to be cut further. The Staff Association will stand up for each and every job, which are important to Australia’s manufacturing future and the Geelong region.” said Staff Association Secretary Sam Popovski.