Death by a thousand cuts: essential workers say enough is enough
PSA & ASU
What: Press Conference
When: Noon
Where: Tree of Truth, behind NSW Parliament House
Who: PSA General Secretary Stewart Little, ASU Secretary Angus McFarland, UnionsNSW Secretary Mark Morey
Death by a thousand cuts: public servants say enough is enough
The 300 jobs announced overnight to go at WaterNSW are just the latest in 1515 job cuts across essential services in NSW that have been revealed in the last two weeks.
Yesterday 300 staff critical to flood plain mitigation, dam safety and water quality testing were told they would be joining the unemployment queues.
This comes on top of an announcement last week by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that 165 jobs would go even though they are vital for natural disaster response and in controlling pests like fire ants and varroa mite.
In recent weeks Transport for NSW also announced 950 jobs would go and TAFE NSW announced it would be cutting 100 jobs from regional centres including Dubbo and Orange.
Public Service Association General Secretary Stewart Little said regional communities will be without essential frontline workers if hte cuts aren’t reversed.
“These are researchers who provided safe drinking water to communities in Lismore and northern NSW during recent flood events,” said Mr Little.
“These are people who work in flood mitigation to try and protect communities from one in 100 flood events like we saw hit Eugowra in 2022.
“You can’t jobs like this and expect it not to impact flood response or water quality.”
ASU NSW & ACT Secretary Angus McFarland said the decision was devastating.
“This decision to cut hundreds of essential water jobs is a devastating blow to the workers and the communities they serve each and every day. It’s outrageous that WaterNSW is slashing hundreds of jobs at a time when their expertise and labour has never been more essential.”
“With climate impacts escalating, it’s hard to see how a state-owned corporation can justify cutting the very jobs that protect our water and communities.
“What plan does the state government have in place for the next inevitable flood? How can the state government expect to respond to the climate crisis challenges if critical capacity is stripped away?
“Gutting the workforce now will only cost the state more in the long run. Plus just last week, IPART gave WaterNSW permission to increase their prices by 10 per cent per year for the next three years.”
Contact: Tim Brunero 0405 285 547