Public servants from Building Tasmania and the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) have taken industrial action today, rallying against the state government’s restructure and job cuts.
Members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) gathered outside the Executive Building in Hobart as the deadline for feedback on the changes was set for today.
The deadline has since been extended by one business day to Monday.
CPSU assistant general secretary Natalie Jones said the handling of the restructure had been “appalling”.
“People are leaving work, they’re off on personal leave, they’re devastated, they have no answers, no information,” she said.
Union members at the rally voted to say they had no confidence in the transition process or in Premier Jeremy Rockliff, as the minister responsible for the state service.
“I think it’s pretty telling that workers have moved a motion of no confidence in their own employer,” Jones said.
Jones said the union had lodged another application with the Tasmanian Industrial Commission over a failure to consult. It is seeking to keep the status quo in place until workers are properly consulted.
She said the government had told the union a number of times that its deadline for the changes was December 3.
Jones said members were also reporting being questioned by line managers after attending union actions or public rallies in support of public services.
At the rally, a CPSU organiser said a worker who attended Thursday’s public rally against TMAG job cuts on her lunch break had returned to an email from her manager.
The organiser said the email included a screenshot of the worker’s calendar and asked why she had been at a union protest on work time.
“What people do in their own time is absolutely their own business,” Jones said.
DPAC communications officer Tanzi Lewis said staff had only been told of the changes two weeks ago and she had seen colleagues break down.
“I see people in tears. Morale is low,” she said.
Workers have been given about two weeks to respond to more than 80 organisational charts. DPAC will take on Mineral Resources Tasmania, Skills Tasmania and the Forest Practices Authority under the restructure.
The government aims to cut 1,700 jobs from the state service by 2029-30, including 250 in Building Tasmania – previously State Growth.
Jones also said the union still had no written guarantee from the premier that the government would cover the tax bills of former employees caught up in redundancy errors or how far back that would go.
“It really is hard to understand what the plan is because it’s absolutely chaotic,” she said.
Deputy Premier Guy Barnett said the government’s priority was frontline services and a sustainable budget.
“We have made some decisions to ensure that the public service is the right size, to ensure that our budget is managed carefully and on a sustainable basis,” he said.
