BY ALEX BAINBRIDGE

HOBART — Described by the Mercury as “a rare attack”, on May 5 Unions Tasmania protested the state Labor government's privatisation plans. The government is planning to privatise the Civil Construction Corporation, the Stanley Cool Stores Board and the Grain Elevators Board.

The May 6 Mercury reported three reasons that unions were opposed to the privatisation — a projected $8.5 million surplus in the forthcoming state budget making the sales unnecessary; the lack of a guarantee that jobs would be preserved; and the fact that there was “no proper consultation”.

The sales have been steeped in controversy. Primarily this is because the government is arranging the sales directly with prospective buyers and not even putting the assets up for tender process, leaving the government open to the accusation that the sales are sweetheart deals. This is exacerbated by the fact that Premier Jim Bacon's government was first elected on a platform of strong opposition to the privatisation of the Hydro Electric Corporation.

Unions are opposed to both the process and the privatisation itself.

Regarding the now divided Hydro, Unions Tasmania secretary Lynne Fitzgerald is reported to have said that the “unions are concerned that more and more tasks in the power industry have been contracted out or outsourced and as a result pay, conditions and job security have been reduced. You have to wonder what the real difference is privatisation by stealth and privatisation by open sale really is.”

The first act of privatisation by the Bacon government was the sale of the Trust Bank in 1999.

From Green Left Weekly, May 21, 2003.
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