Shoalhaven City Council Mayor, Councillor Patricia White, will meet with representatives of council staff to put a number on how many of them will be shed after a council meeting last week voted to cut jobs.
Council workers were blindsided by the plan after the Mayor personally assured staff at a meeting in December their jobs were safe.
The job shedding plan was opposed by many Councillors, though not a majority.
Stuart Geddes from the United Services Union, which represents employees at Shoalhaven City Council, says staff are anxious to hear how many jobs are to go.
“I look forward to meeting with Mayor White to find out on behalf of our members how many of their jobs she plans to cut,” said Mr Geddes.
“The Mayor has been talking about percentages thus far, she says the council is 31% overstaffed and she wants to bring that down to 22%, but people aren’t percentages, they’re human beings and they deserve to know if they’re being shown the door.
“We need to know how many jobs the Mayor wishes to cut and from what departments, will they be the people who conduct rhyme time at the libraries, will they be the road workers who fix potholes in the district or will they be the people who mark the fields for Saturday sport?
“We’re still dealing with the fallout from the Mayor’s decision in February to privatise local child care services leaving local children and parents facing lesser services for higher costs and six council staff at Centrelink.”
Contact: Tim Brunero 0405 285 547
