Hastie workers axed via SMS
Victorian secretary of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) Dean Mighell said up to 3000 workers at engineering company Hastie Group could lose their jobs, after the company went into administration on May 28. Many workers discovered their fate via text message.
Mark Guest, who worked at a Hastie subsidiary for two years, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he received an SMS from Hastie at 7am on his rostered day off telling him to come in for an 8.30am meeting. All workers at the meeting were told they had been stood down without pay for four weeks.
Guest said the workers had not been paid for their last week of work.
Mighell said the standing down of workers for four weeks leaves them in limbo. Despite being unpaid they are still technically employed and so cannot receive unemployment benefits or redundancy.
NSW ETU organiser Mick Doust told News.com.au that 600 NSW electricians were being axed from Hastie subsidiary Heyday.
Fairfax workers battle to maintain The (r)Age
Fairfax workers walked off the job on May 30 after learning of a management move to axe 66 sub-editor jobs at the Newcastle Herald and Illawarra Mercury and move the work to New Zealand.
The next day, 800 staff from the Sydney Morning Herald, The Financial Review, The Canberra Times and The Age went on a 36 hour strike. Rallies were held in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle and Wollongong.
In Wollongong, local firefighters and union officials joined pickets outside Fairfax offices, where staff held placards reading “not heppy bro”. Newcastle Herald senior writer Greg Ray told ABC news the cuts come despite the paper being profitable.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said on May 29 that job cuts are “an alarming precedent that could be replicated on other mastheads like the Sydney Morning Herald or The Age and should be stopped before it’s too late”.
1000 public servants fired in South Australia
More than 1000 public servant jobs are set to be slashed in the May 30 South Australian budget. The cuts are in addition to the 4100 jobs cut in last year’s state budget.
Public Service Association general secretary Jan McMahon said the cuts would affect services including social workers, youth workers and park rangers.
Before the budget’s release, Business SA had called for widespread job cuts, the Australian Industry Group demanded the government “deliver” the 4100 job cuts it promised last year. The Motor Traders Authority said the Labor government needed more “commitment to reducing public sector workforce numbers” than it had shown.
