Public sector could lose 3000 jobs

[Banjo]

Public sector could lose 3000 jobs

Extra cuts to the federal public service will mean 3000 lost jobs, the Community and Public Sector Union has warned.

Those jobs will likely come mostly from frontline agencies like Centrelink, Medicare and Customs, says union national secretary Nadine Flood.

But the government says it has asked departments to find non-staffing cuts first.

From 2012/13, public service heads will need to find an extra 2.5 per cent in cuts on top of an existing efficiency dividend of 1.5 per cent over the forward estimates.

The measure is set to deliver extra savings of $1.5 billion to 2014/15.

The three federal Labor representatives for the ACT, where the bulk of the nation's public service works, stopped short of endorsing the move.

MPs Andrew Leigh and Gai Brodtmann and Senator Kate Lundy did welcome an exemption for smaller agencies and many of the national cultural institutions.

But they were concerned that the National Capital Authority, the National Portrait Gallery and the Australian National Botanic Gardens were not exempt from the extra cuts.

The trio will talk to Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean and Environment Minister Tony Burke to try and protect all national institutions.

Ms Flood said the CPSU had already worked with public service heads to find savings over the several years that an efficiency dividend has been in place.

"It is ridiculous for government to argue that you can cut $1.5 billion and not affect frontline services and jobs," she told reporters in Canberra.

Ms Flood believed the public service already had got to the point of having nothing left to cut.

Since government agencies spent about two-thirds of their budget on employees, the union believed the new cuts meant 3000 jobs would go.

"What we have seen this year is staff levels in Centrelink and Medicare reduced," Ms Flood said.

"That means that families are already waiting up to three weeks for family payments, for baby bonuses, for parental leave payments.

But Finance Minister Penny Wong has asked agency heads to find other savings before they start cutting jobs.

"Our expectation is that we do not have to resort to forced redundancies," she told Sky News.

However, the minister stopped short of guaranteeing there would not be any redundancies.

Senator Wong also indicated public servants who left their job might not be replaced.

"People do have the capacity to decide which positions they will replace and which ones they won't," she said.

Ms Flood doubted enough savings could be found by scrapping consultants and minimising travel.

"I have to say, I haven't seen too many Centrelink or Medicare workers at the airports recently," she said.

The CPSU will be part of a working group, led by Senator Wong and Special Minister of State Gary Gray, to advise on where to find the extra savings.

news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8381606

[Banjo]

Public service cuts out of step with community sentiment: CPSU

With the Federal Government's mini-budget expected this week, the CPSU has warned that any deep cuts to the public service would lead to job losses and reduced services in agencies such as Customs, Centrelink and Medicare.

The union also claims that new research shows there is very little community support for cutting public services just to balance the budget.

Research by Essential Media published today found that only 14 per cent supported the return to surplus, with 17 per cent saying they did not know. 76 per cent of Labor voters, 68 per cent of Coalition voters and 82 per cent of Greens voters did not support cutting services to return to surplus.

"The public knows the reality - that cuts to the public service will reduce services for millions of Australians," Ms Flood said.

"Cuts on top of the existing efficiency dividend would be the wrong decision at the wrong time. The public service is not a magic pudding, if you cut resources, you lose jobs and services.

"Carving much needed resources out of the public sector simply to meet a self-imposed target of a Budget surplus would be bad policy. It would hurt APS staff and the millions of people who rely on the services they provide such as social security, child support, border protection, scientific research, weather forecasting and much more.

"The Australia community is growing weary of politicians at the Federal and State level ransacking the public sector to satisfy their obsession with balanced budgets," said Ms Flood.

The union also questioned the economic reasoning behind any major cuts at a time of continuing international economic uncertainty.

"There are a growing number of leading economists who argue that by making big cuts now, simply to balance next year's Budget, the Government could put Australia at risk if the international economy declines further," Ms Flood said.

"Short-term cuts will have flow-on effects on the capacity of the public service for years to come."

The CPSU has been engaged in tough negotiations with dozens of Federal Government agencies this year, fighting off plans to cut to real wages and conditions.

"During these negotiations delegates have heard worrying reports about further cuts to resources in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO)," said Ms Flood.

www.cpsu.org.au/news/26555.html

[spaceyone]

I think that all the public servants should be sacked, and people put into the jobs who have a brain.

I have moved house. I applied for bond assistance three weeks ago. It has not been processed yet. It has been deliberately stalled, in the hope that myself and son would end up on the streets.

The kind landlord let us move in without the money having been paid. Workers at NSW Housing are insisting that she increases the bond, despite the fact that we have a legally binding lease signed a month ago stating the amount of the bond.

They are refusing to pay the $500 she is asking. They say it must equal 4 weeks rent, or they are unable to work out what their 75% of it would be. (No one has heard of this rule before.)

They are increasing their own costs by $200 to force my costs up by $65. I have threatened to move out, and make them pay for it all, and put us up in a motel. They are demanding that she change a legally binding document, to attack me.

They will only pay 3 weeks of the 6 weeks of upfront costs, leaving the rest to me. They marked that I would not appeal them denying me two weeks advance rent. When I did appeal, they claim they did not receive it. Yet I sent it three times, by fax, and have all the fax receipts in my possession.

When I questioned them yesterday about their demands about the bond, they tried to lie and say it did not happen. It is their word again the landlord. Except they told it to the landlord again two days ago, and she rang me and asked me for the extra money.

Fight the laws which would bring you home people, because when you get here, you will only encounter a bunch of sadistic and spiteful public servants who will enjoy sending you to live on the streets, as punishment for having gone somewhere better in the first place.

Still waiting for my internet to be connected. Will write more about this issue then.

[Banjo]

Good luck spacey...
This type of story leaves me astounded... how much of their budget goes into this crap when it would be easier to just rubber stamp it and get people into houses?

[Banker]

Good luck with the move Spacey & I hope you get the internet connection soon.

[latindancer]

Nov 30, 2011 9:19:34 GMT 7 spaceyone said:

I think that all the public servants should be sacked, and people put into the jobs who have a brain.
They are refusing to pay the $500 she is asking. They say it must equal 4 weeks rent, or they are unable to work out what their 75% of it would be. (No one has heard of this rule before.)

I think it's the bureaucratic mentality. They give you a form to fill out. And if your situation cannot be described by ticking boxes and filling small rectangles with the information they expect you to put in there, their brains lock up. They cannot think outside of the square. They are little people, with mean minds.
However once in a while, you run into a really nice, helpful person and they restore your faith in humanity and bureaucrats. I had one recently, and in fact the person who first told me I could travel overseas on the DSP was a Centrelink employee in a small regional town. A really helpful, nice guy. I think it might have been because he lived in a country town rather than a big city.
I have a tendency to dig in my heels when talking to government employees. But really, when you see this starting to happen (them being inflexible and yourself getting upset) it's best to just make your excuses and say goodbye. Then call back later and talk to someone else, hoping they are nicer.
I can't recommend this strategy highly enough.

[spaceyone]

Internet company says I won't have the net or phone for another 8 days. Would have been handy to have at the moment, as I will have unlimited STD calls, and I need to speak to people in Sydney about this issue, particularly since no one has called me back yet.

I have lodged a complaint with the NSW Ombudsman's Department. Hopefully they won't be as corrupt as the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office.

I intend to follow these complaints through, until the staff at rentstart regret ever hearing my name.

[spaceyone]

Thanks for your advice Latin Dancer. I hadn't seen your post when I had made mine underneath it.

The main problem I encountered was that no one from Rentstart would phone me back with the outcome of my application. Every time I rang to obtain the result, I was told that the application had not been processed yet, that it would be now, and I would hear from them within 48 hours.

Each time the 48 hour period had expired, I would ring again and be told the same story. In the end it was the landlord who had to advise me what my share was to be, and I ended up arguing with them when it was much more than I had expected.

I see Centrelink are now doing the same to you. I wish we could do it back to them, say we will phone back, and never do it and yet keep our payments just like they do as employees.