The state branch of the education union has called on La Trobe University to ditch a plan that would see on-campus cafe staff outsourced. 

But the university has moved to quell fears and said some of the union’s claims were “outrageous” and unfounded. 

Staff at the Food For Thought cafe on campus were notified of the proposed change to bring in a third party to run the service two weeks ago, with the consultation period expected to end today. 

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Victorian secretary Dr Colin Long claimed the university had proposed to bring in a private company which could potentially see current employees replaced with new workers on cheaper pay rates.

“While the university claims ‘only’ five full-time jobs and four long-term casual jobs would be lost, Food for Thought actually employs eleven casual staff, many of whom have worked for Food for Thought on a regular basis for many years, as well as the permanent staff,” Dr Long said. 

“There are no guarantees that any jobs would move to a privatised company that was brought in to replace them,” he said.

He also aired concerns about potential student exploitation, claiming the university had said current positions could be filled students.

But La Trobe University head of Bendigo campus Robert Stephenson reiterated the plan was still a draft at this stage and potential staff redundancies were “a long way off”. 

He said some of the claims made by the NTEU – about the numbers of long-term casual staff and speculation about student workers – were “speculative and outrageous”. 

“That's bizarre speculation. It’s a draft proposal and we have been receiving feedback, which will be considered before a final decision is derived,” Mr Stephenson said. 

He said no commitment had been made to any future employer and there was a possibility of staff being employed under a new contractor if the draft plan did go ahead – although that was entirely up to the service provider. 

Mr Stephenson said the current service was under review to see it working most efficiently and stressed they were not withdrawing services.

He encouraged concerned members of the university community to lodge feedback on the proposal.

Dr Long called on university management to abandon the draft proposal.

The Bendigo Advertiser has sought additional comment from Food For Thought.