The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says it is not convinced job losses at Forestry Tasmania will be limited to 50 positions. Source: ABC News
Forestry Tasmania has confirmed 50 jobs will be shed in the next few months as the State Government-owned company is downsized.
Twenty operations staff at Forestry Tasmania’s Camdale and Smithon sites were asked to apply for voluntary redundancies while union representatives and workers from Forestry Tasmania’s Scottsdale and Perth facilities are meeting with the company.
CPSU Tasmanian secretary Tom Lynch said there had been a lack of transparency about how many jobs would go.
“We haven’t been told that but we know 20 went from the north-west coast yesterday, on that basis I don’t accept it’ll be as few as 50,” he said.
“I think the number is likely to be closer to 100.
“There are only 250 staff at Forestry Tasmania so this is a massive cut to this organisation.”
Mr Lynch said the union was told that Forestry Tasmania would be meeting with workers to provide more detail about the organisation’s restructure, but they were not told the meetings would result in job losses.
But Resources Minister Paul Harriss said the unions were embarking on a scare campaign.
“Let’s put some perspective on this,” he said. “Under the Labor-Green government, Forestry Tasmania shed more than 200 staff between 2010 and 2014, and two out of every three forestry jobs were lost in the five years to 2014, along with the equipment used by contractors.”
Firefighters were among the staff invited to apply for voluntary redundancies at the company’s Camdale and Smithton facilities. That prompted suggestions from the Australian Workers Union (AWU) that bushfire safety in the region was being compromised provoking an angry response from the State Government.
AWU assistant state secretary Robert Flanagan added fuel to the fire.
“What they are doing is fundamentally undermining public safety and giving the community an exposure to a fire event that we haven’t seen for 40 years,” he said.
“We are overdue for a mega fire event and this is the only workforce that can make sure we don’t have a fire event.”
Premier Will Hodgman said claims the decision puts the public at risk were exaggerated and unacceptable.
“We have every confidence in the Tasmania Fire Service and those that contribute right across the state against a back-drop of a Government that has taken a very serious approach to reducing or minimising the bushfire risk,” he said.
“That will ensure that Tasmanians are safe in their communities.”
The Government is investing an additional $26.5 million into fuel reduction over four years.
Mr Harriss said the union’s claims were disappointing.
“It is disappointing the Australian Workers Union is trying to scaremonger and suggest changes to Forestry Tasmania will compromise Tasmanians’ safety,” he said.
