10 June 2009
Media release

Super City transition makes council water staff fear for jobs

Council water staff in Auckland are concerned for their jobs after the new Super City integrated water company requested lists of staff including age, sex, salary levels, CVs, and whether staff are union members, says Labour's Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford.

Phil Twyford said the requests for this information understandably made staff fearful that the merger process was about to start cutting jobs.

“I understand that Waitakere, North Shore and Manukau Councils have received the request in the last few days. At least one of the councils believes the request for union membership may be a breach of privacy and is taking legal advice on whether they have to hand the information over.

“Watercare has told me there is nothing sinister about the request for information and that it is simply to assist with planning the integration. However I do think the information requested, particularly about union membership, does raise concerns about job cutting,” Phil Twyford said.

“Integration of Watercare's bulk water and waste water operation with council water suppliers is one of the key planks of the Super City plan. Watercare CEO Mark Ford was hand-picked to chair the transition agency board.

“Watercare is leading the water company merger under the direction of the Auckland Transition Agency. It is understood the request for employee information came as part of a due diligence request from Watercare to the councils.

“With this kind of merger one can reasonably expect there might be some job losses over time due to efficiencies, but this kind of ham-fisted approach is bound to cause alarm about the way the transition agency is going about its business. There are more than 6000 Council staff in the Auckland region. They deserve to be treated with fairness and certainty,” said Phil Twyford.

“I call on the Government to tell Auckland councils what their approach is to integration of water staff, and clarify how they are going to deal with any job losses. The transition agency has been given enormous powers but is not subject to the same transparency obligations as councils. The Government needs to reassure Council staff.”

“With Auckland Mayor John Banks predicting 40% of local government jobs likely to go in the transition, and Rodney Hide’s Cabinet paper spelling out plans for radical cuts in council services, council staff have reason to be concerned.”

ENDS

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