Union’s job loss warning: St Marys-Mt Druit Star
PUBLIC service workers who fear for their jobs are expected to meet with MPs Tanya Davies and Bart Bassett in the coming weeks.
Public Services Union of NSW (PSA) is running community meetings to brief staff about proposed job cuts and impact of the new Government Sector Employment Act.
It claims the state government will slash 15,000 public service jobs, 2306 of those in western Sydney, but hasn’t been told which departments will be affected.
Meetings were held in Penrith last week and in St Marys yesterday (August 12).
PSA general secretary Steve Turner urged workers to be part of local delegations to meet with state Liberal backbenchers, including Tanya Davies, Bart Bassett and Stuart Ayres.
“We want to remind MPs they may not be there for a long time if they ignore the electorate,” he told the Penrith crowd.
“This government promised to rebuild NSW and look after western Sydney.
“They never promised to attack the public sector.
“I can’t stress the importance of being part of a delegation with your MP to talk about the problems facing the public sector.”
Mr Turner told how a PSA led-campaign helped save jobs at Grafton Jail late last year.
Mrs Davies said the PSA campaign was misleading.
She said the 2011-12 NSW Budget included 5000 voluntary redundancies over four years while 2012-13 budget introduced a labour expense cap — a target of 1.2 per cent per annum reduction in labour costs growth applied across the public sector.
“Department heads have been given the flexibility to deliver the savings so they will not remove a job that is critical to delivering their service,” Mrs Davies said.
“In stark contrast to what happened under NSW Labor, this government will live within its means and will continue to take responsible decisions to prioritise and deliver for the people of NSW.”