PSA sets out demands to O’Farrell

By Julian Bajkowski

New South Wales Public Service Association members have staked out their demands to limit cutbacks by the O’Farrell government aimed at reducing the size and cost of the state’s public service.

The list of proposed rollbacks follows a half day stop work action yesterday that resulted in the bureaucratic equivalent of the second long weekend in a fortnight at the end of the state’s school holidays.

A statement from the PSA said that its members on Monday endorsed “ongoing political and industrial action against the relentless cuts to jobs, work rights and services across NSW by the O’Farrell Government”.

Specifically, the union is calling for the state government to withdraw its application for a new and diminished Crown Employees Conditions Award in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.

It also wants the previous government’s commitment to “no forced redundancies”  restored, as well as the restoration of power to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to award wage rises outside a 2.5 per cent wage cap.

“It is a time of great uncertainty for tens of thousands of workers in NSW, with job losses hitting families and many rural communities hard and colleagues left behind suffering under greater workloads and job insecurity,” PSA General Secretary John Cahill said.

“The NSW Government’s slash and burn of public sector jobs is not only a personal tragedy for many workers, it will have a deep, long-term impact on the quality of services across our state,” he said.

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