PSA MEDIA RELEASE
March 20, 2009
For Immediate Use
PSA concerned about proposed job cuts at State Services Commission

The Public Service Association is concerned that job cuts are proposed at the State Services Commission which is already under huge pressure in overseeing the operation of the state sector.

State Services Commission staff were yesterday told about a restructuring plan which proposes 22 redundancies.

In the change management plan State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie states: “The SSC is getting smaller but the expectations on us are not.”

Mr Rennie says the government has “high expectations” of the commission “to bring about change in the state service to make the improvements which government wants.”

“The commission is already under pressure and appears under-resourced for the work it’s currently responsible for,” says PSA National Secretary Brenda Pilott

“Now the government is expecting the SSC to take on new initiatives with fewer staff.”

“We think that’s placing an unfair and unrealistic burden on these workers.”

“We’re also concerned that once again the government’s commitment to keeping New Zealanders in work does not seem to apply to workers in the public sector,” says Brenda Pilott.

We have already seen proposals to cut 86 positions at the Ministry for the Environment and 76 at the Tertiary Education Commission. Ninety jobs are going at Television New Zealand because the government is insisting on a dividend.

“Now 22 redundancies are proposed at the State Services Commission,” says Brenda Pilott.

“The government needs to recognise that every job loss has a personal and a public cost.”

“It does not help the economy recover from the recession to watch public sector workers and their families having to cope without a job,” says Brenda Pilott.

ENDS

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