Truss picketed at Centrelink

Wednesday, March 3, 1999 - 11:00

Truss picketed at Centrelink

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — Around 20 members of the Community and Public Sector Union and their supporters picketed the Centrelink Brisbane Call Centre on February 23 to protest against the presence there of Warren Truss, federal minister for family and community services, for a public information day.

The picketers highlighted: the slashing of 5000 jobs from Centrelink, the government's social security delivery agency; the attack on jobs and conditions at Telstra; and the savage cuts to social welfare funding by the Howard government over the last three years. The protesters also drew attention to the huge pay rises and bonuses being offered to senior public servants, while general staff at Centrelink are being offered a miserable 2.5% increase over two years, subject to productivity increases.

From GLW issue 351