Public Services and Job Cuts Rally

Date: 18 September 2003

Members of the Public Service Association will rally in Farrer Place, Sydney, next Wednesday, 24 September, to highlight the extent of cuts to public services and job losses being pushed through by the NSW Government

Job losses and budget cuts have been announced in the following agencies:

• 1,000 education support service jobs in the Department of Education and Training and TAFE are to be cut.
• Industrial Relations - 25% of jobs affected.
• Department of Commerce - a reduction of 1.8% in operating costs across the department.
• Anti-Discrimination Board - 18 jobs this year with about the same next year.
• Australian Museum - 30 jobs to go, which is about 10% of staff.
• Agriculture - transfer of 75 regional jobs to other regional centres, and cuts to corporate services.
• Business Link - regional job losses.
• Corrective Services - prison officers face alterations to their conditions in order to slash the budget. Job cuts are being planned for non-custodial staff.

Further announcements are expected.

The PSA will tonight ask Labor Council to support our campaign to stop the cuts and to support the rally next Wednesday..

"An effective public sector is crucial in promoting a fair and equitable society", says John Cahill, Acting General Secretary of the PSA.

"Without public sector agencies being fully staffed and fully funded, public services only become more inaccessible and remote from ordinary people."

"The majority of these cuts are to what is called corporate services. They will not go unnoticed. Cuts to corporate services mean essential administrative and support work will either be dumped on front-line staff or not be done which will be to the detriment of the service delivery staff,' said Mr Cahill.

For further information

Contact:	John Cahill
Union:	Public Service Association of NSW
Phone:	9220 0982
WWW:	http://psa.labor.net.au/

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