Unions threaten action over NSW job cuts

8 Jun 2012, 4:40 pm   -   Source: AAP
Nurses, police and teachers will be shielded from the axe wielding, but Unions NSW says those frontline workers will end up doing paperwork previously carried out by colleagues lost in the job cuts. (AAP)

Nurses, police and teachers will be shielded from the axe wielding, but Unions NSW says those frontline workers will end up doing paperwork previously carried out by colleagues lost in the job cuts. (AAP)

Unions angered by a NSW budget plan to slash up to 10,000 jobs are threatening another round of industrial action.

Unions are threatening to strike over a NSW government plan to slash up to 10,000 public sector jobs, with firefighters saying they'll discuss what industrial action to take after Tuesday's budget.

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird will next week announce a 1.2 per cent annual labour expense cap across all government agencies, aimed at saving $2.2 billion over four years and propping up the state's sagging bottom line.

Mr Baird on Friday confirmed reports the savings equated to deep cuts of 10,000 jobs, but with better management of work arrangements - such as leave, contracts and overtime - he said "it won't get to that number".

Nurses, police and teachers will be shielded from the axe, but not firefighters, who said they would meet on Wednesday to discuss possible industrial action.

"If there is any threat to our award conditions around workers compensation, or if there is any threat to our death and disability ... firefighters will be considering all courses of action," Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU) state president Darin Sullivan said.

"If support services and the resources that are in place in fire and rescue to help firefighters to do their job are taken away or reduced then the capacity for firefighters to do their job is reduced."

Unions NSW secretary Mark Lennon said the organisation would be launching a "comprehensive campaign" against the job cuts following the budget.

A Sydney rally against cuts to workers compensation planned for Wednesday would no doubt see protests over job cuts raised as well, he said.

Public Service Association (PSA) general secretary John Cahill also foreshadowed industrial action, saying "every public sector worker will go home tonight for a long weekend, not knowing whether they'll have a job as a result of the budget next week".

"This will have an effect right across the board in the NSW public sector, in our schools, in our hospitals, in our TAFE colleges, in areas of child protection, aged care, the justice system, our jails, our police force," he said.

Next Tuesday's budget is expected to show the state will be back in surplus in 2013/14, following a $826 million deficit next financial year.

The return to surplus would be a significant turnaround for the O'Farrell government, after December's mid-year review forecast a string of deficits over the four-year forward estimates.

Mr Baird said 10,000 job losses "is a number that could result across this state".

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this any other way, but my expectation is that it won't get to that number because departments will have the capacity within their employee expenses to manage (the cuts)," he told reporters in Sydney.

"Whether it be overtime, whether it be part-time arrangements, whether it be temps or contractors, there is a huge expense that comes with managing all these services, and what the department heads want is the flexibility to manage them."

Opposition Leader John Robertson said the job losses would inevitably see government services suffer.

"When you cut this number of jobs, you are cutting to the bone and that has an impact right across the board," he told reporters.

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