PSA to FACS Secretary – You owe it to staff to fight for jobs – November 2016 (PDF version)

The PSA has called on FACS Secretary, Michael Coutts-Trotter to stand up to NSW Treasury and fight for jobs in the face of NSW Government plans to privatise disability services and the management of some 18,000 public housing properties.

The move is expected to result in massive job losses in districts, and corporate and state-wide services.

In a letter to the Secretary, the PSA emphasised the sheer scale of the Government’s job cuts warrants an approach designed to consolidate reorganisation processes, to maximise employment opportunities for ongoing staff and promote lateral transfers and redeployment across the agency.

To read a copy of the letter click HERE.

“Michael Coutts-Trotter must stand up for his staff, and the thousands who face unemployment and an uncertain future”, said PSA Assistant General Secretary, Troy Wright.

“Key to managing this process fairly is ensuring that affected staff who wish to stay with FACS are given every opportunity to do so.”

“This means taking a consolidated, whole of agency approach to managing change.”

“The Secretary should implement an immediate freeze on external advertising and put in place measures to ensure current staff are considered against all suitable vacancies before external advertisement.”

“An expression of interest process in voluntary redundancy should be also be offered up front, so the agency knows which staff want to stay and which want to leave – and wherever possible match staff to their preference.”

“Fundamentally, what we’re seeing in Family and Community Services is a Coalition Government hell-bent on gutting public housing, disability and child protection services.”

“Premier Baird desperately wants to privatise these critical public services so his mates at the big end of town can make a buck out of some of the most disadvantaged in our community,” said Troy Wright.