The Federal Government has slashed more than one hundred jobs across the Australian Taxation Office as its productivity cuts put the squeeze on the public service, the Community and Public Sector Union said today.
About 133 mostly regionally based tax workers were sacked yesterday as ATO managers scramble to meet the Federal Government’s productivity cut of 3.25 per cent.
The sacked tax workers in Melbourne, Newcastle, Penrith, Chermside and Moonee Ponds had been due to finish their term of employment on June 30 but productivity cuts had forced the ATO to push them out earlier.
The CPSU said that finding work in regional areas was difficult at the best of times but the Federal Government’s productivity cuts had made it that much harder.
“Workers in regional areas depend on the stable employment that the public service provides,” CPSU Acting National Secretary, Mark Gepp said.
“The Federal Government’s productivity budget cuts come at the expense of the jobs that regional workers and their communities rely on.
“This week Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan have repeatedly spoken about protecting jobs and investing in Australian workplaces. So you would think the Federal Government, of all employers, would be trying to create jobs not cut them among its own workforce.
Mr Gepp said cuts would continue to pose a threat to public sector workers until the Federal Government committed to removing its arbitrary productivity cuts ahead of the Federal budget this year.
For more information please call Mark Gepp on 0418 316 858 or Tim Fitzsimmons (EMC) on 0423 375 522
