Tax office workers under attack

By Chris Slee Australian Tax Office management has attacked the rights and conditions of its workers by refusing to renew the clauses of the Tax Office Modernisation Agreement which guaranteed that there would be no compulsory redundancies, and no forced transfers between offices. Just before Christmas, Taxation commissioner Michael Carmody announced plans to drastically cut space in several offices and transfer workers elsewhere. One example is Melbourne's Casselden Place office, where management is planning to transfer at least 200 staff to Box Hill and Moonee Ponds before the end of February. Management has also made it clear that compulsory redundancies are likely. There are a range of other attacks including cuts to office standards, the threat of compulsory shift work and the possible abolition of flexitime for some workers. Officials of the tax office division of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) have criticised Carmody for failing to consult the union. But the problem is not just Carmody. The attacks flow from the federal Labor government's policy. As a result of Labor's funding cuts, ATO management is under pressure to cut staff numbers and office space. Labor has also told the management of all public service agencies not to sign any agreement that includes a "no compulsory redundancies" clause. Tax office members of the CPSU voted at stop-work meetings on December 19 to launch an industrial campaign, including bans starting from January 15, and a strike on January 18. However, the CPSU tax division executive decided to defer the industrial action. The strike was postponed until January 24, and the bans were not imposed. The reason given for postponement was to make time for further negotiations. However, given the lack of any real progress on the key issues of job security and forced transfers and the immediacy of the threat — particularly in Casselden Place — many workers are angry with the decision. Casselden Place delegates were worried that the union leadership might call off the campaign and accept a deal that would not prevent compulsory redundancies and forced transfers. Democratic Socialist spokesperson on industrial relations Sue Bull told Green Left that the union may call off industrial action "to avoid embarrassing the ALP in the lead-up to the federal election". Yet this was the best time to act, she said. "We can put the ALP on the spot. If they claim to be better than the Liberals, let them prove it! "We need industrial action involving the whole public service. Other departments such as DEET and DSS are facing similar attacks. "Our union leaders tell us to vote Labor, pointing out that the Liberals would be worse. But we can not accept that our only option is to choose the lesser of two evils. We need to build a new party that genuinely represents the interests of workers."