- The Guardian
- Issue #2174
The Community and Public Sector Union calls reports of potential significant cuts to Australian Public Service agency budgets “extremely concerning.” The Albanese government was re-elected with a promise of continuing the work of investing in the rebuilding of public services, not cuts.
While the government has made some progress repairing the damage done to public sector capacity following years of outsourcing, privatisation, and cuts, there is significantly more to do.
The job of addressing the use of contractors and consultants to do core public sector work is far from complete.
The union warns that arbitrary budget cuts across the public service hurt public services and inevitably result in job losses. “The impact of this is always felt by the thousands of Australians who rely on public services every day and that the government’s stated support for the public service must be matched by what it actually delivers.”
Over at the national broadcaster, staff at the ABC voted to reject management’s insulting enterprise agreement offer, which sought to undermine previous wins, threaten to stall careers and worsen job insecurity. Members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) at the ABC are not only fighting for fair pay and conditions but for the future of the national broadcaster.
MEAA Chief Executive Erin Madeley said staff would not stand by and accept the ongoing mismanagement of the ABC. “Australians deserve for our ABC to be run in the interest of the public, not in the interests of a select few. For that to happen, journalists and content makers need secure jobs and sustainable careers, in both regional and metro areas.
“Management’s backwards offer attempted to cut job security and access to career progression.
“We applaud the brave and principled MEAA members at the ABC, who will not back down in their fight for workers’ rights, journalism and a sustainable national broadcaster.”
The ABC MEAA House Committee said: “Instead of respecting the needs of staff who are dedicated to serving their audiences, ABC management tried to bypass their union representatives at the bargaining table and force through cuts to conditions and pay that won’t keep up with inflation.
“Over the past two years, ABC management has wasted millions of dollars on a failed defence of its illegal termination of an employee due to her political opinions, and it continues to act in contravention of the Fair Work Act in relation to its abuse of rolling, short-term fixed contracts.
“It’s time for management to get its priorities right and commit to proper good faith bargaining with its staff in the interest of the Australian public.”
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: is Westpac bank. The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has condemned Westpac for “jumping the gun” on 134 job cuts across 99 branches, less than two months from Christmas, calling it heartless and disrespectful to frontline workers.
The job losses affect tellers and personal bankers in every state and are part of Westpac’s earlier announcement to cut 200 retail job cuts as the bank continues to migrate retail functions to online.
The union says that only last month Westpac agreed to establish a $5 million capability fund to support existing retail staff to upskill for the future.
FSU National President Wendy Streets said:
“Westpac is jumping the gun and cutting jobs less than two months from Christmas, when it should be developing its $5 million capability fund to support workers and provide better opportunities to those who are displaced.
“Westpac has a choice: it can pause these cuts and treat its people with fairness and decency and work with us to find solutions, or it can prove that it’s choosing the path of chaos and putting profits over people.
“Westpac has made a big show of promising to invest in its people by setting up a fund, yet now they’re cutting the very workers this fund was supposed to support.”
