By Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE — Public sector workers have been the first victims of the state Labor government's attempts to solve its economic problems. The government announced in its April economic statement that 3000 jobs would be cut from the public service. On his return from the Premiers Conference on July 7, Lynn Arnold proclaimed that a further 600 jobs would have to be shed in order to meet the budget deficit. Green Left Weekly spoke to Jan McMahon, secretary of the Public Service Association, and Claire McCarty, president of the South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT) about the cuts and the unions' response.
In an address to a mass meeting of public sector workers in April, McCarty outlined the background to this erosion of jobs and conditions.
"The attack [has] come in three hits. The first punch to the head was the premier's economic statement with its intention to cut the public sector over three years. The first instalment is to be 1500 jobs by June this year ['93], 3000 by mid-1994 and then further reductions over the following two years. The government set no targets and no amounts for the chief executive officers of the departments to achieve. Along with this, the assurance was given that services to the public were not to be jeopardised.
"The second blow was the public sector reform package entitled 'A Bias For Yes', which called for fewer permanent staff and more casuals, greater flexibility of working hours and work patterns and healthy competition with the private sector, combined with a shift in terminology to 'customers not people' and 'cost not quality'.
"The final blow was a draft enterprise bargaining framework for the SA public sector where union members were to be given the privilege of paying for their own pay rise, accepting the 3000 jobs lost and agreeing to further rationalise the public sector."
As McCarty pointed out, all of this happened prior to the latest announcement of 600 more jobs to go.
"The last cuts of 795 teachers, 125 school assistants, 120 advisers and 180 Education Department personnel have left their mark and are a constant reminder of the damage which reduction to education can do to the quality of service.
"Dr Boston, the director of education at the time, told us not to worry about 'cuts to the bureaucracy'. We now know that reduction in Education Department personnel deprives teachers of support, gives principals a heavier workload and adversely affects placement and transfer exercises. SAIT has listed some 22 services which currently support teachers in the classrooms and which cannot be cut without affecting pupils.
"Further shedding as a proportion of this targeted 600 is just not possible", McCarty continued. "We do not believe that there are any surplus teachers or education workers in the system. On the contrary, we are in urgent need of more resources.
"It is worth remembering that there are 3500 qualified teachers currently unemployed or on contract who are needed in the system in a revised and more generous staffing formula."
McMahon said that the initial round of cuts involved the merging of 30 departments across the public sector into 12, with targeted separation packages (TAP) being offered to workers. The further 600 are justified on the basis of a lack of federal funds.
"The state government has no logical plan to actually implement any of the proposed budget cuts", she said. "Despite claims that service provision will not be affected, it is clearly having a widespread impact. The community will experience longer queues on the telephone, in lines and waiting for documents or processing.
"Primary Industry, for example, is where TSPs are being offered to trained scientific or extension officers, who work on environmental assessment. One of the major areas is the provision of advice to farmers
on environmentally sustainable methods which increase productivity." McMahon has publicly reported that there are plans to introduce a $70/hour user pays fee. This has not been denied by the government.
McMahon described the Arnold government's attacks as equally as devastating as the Kennett exercise in Victoria. She said that if you compare the cuts to the population and size of the public sector, then it is definitely on the same scale.
"Workers in the public sector are experiencing disruption and uncertainty because TSPs are being offered to people on Workcover or leave without pay as well. There is currently no information about the numbers of workers actually accepting TSPs, with even the government claiming that they do not know."
To add insult to injury, the government has also attempted to push through legislation changing public sector workers' conditions of employment. It will eliminate the right to appeal against promotion to vacant positions above ASO4/PSO3.
Another section allows management to disallow annual leave on the grounds of "operational requirements" and then to cancel leave entitlements if they are not taken!
The Arnold government has argued that because of the financial problems associated with the State Bank and the deficit, there is no alternative to these drastic measures.
McCarty replies, "We have been told repeatedly that when you are in debt you have to make savings. There is another way. When you are in debt you can earn money to get yourself out of debt.
"The state can earn money, it has revenue raisers. These include: the State Bank, SAGASCO, the SA Finance Authority, the port and other properties and assets. They are worth $12 billion and raise $1.5 billion each year. However, all of these money raisers are proposed to be sold for short-term gain despite the fact that both the State Bank and SAGASCO are currently showing profits of millions of dollars a year."
A mass meeting of the combined public sector unions in April passed motions condemning the cuts and proposing work bans and other forms of industrial action as appropriate. McCarty said that more than 100 schools were represented. SAIT then followed up with another rally of "employable teachers" to highlight the numbers of extra teachers that could take up positions if the government had a commitment to creating jobs.
McCarty described the next phase of the campaign as a positive stage of rebuilding community consciousness about the importance of quality education. Tactics will include conducting election meetings in the lead-
up to the state election. This will attempt to institute some level of accountability for politicians.
McCarty also said that the union executive was considering the possibility of running its own candidate as another method of highlighting the importance of education as an issue. She said that they will not advocate a vote for either of the major parties, but provide members with information about various party policies to enable them to make an informed decision.