"Our members are stressed and upset."
That’s the word from Public Service Association national secretary Glenn Barclay over the proposed restructure which proposes 20 jobs disestablished at the Invercargill City Council.
In the proposal, leaked to the Otago Daily Times earlier this week, it says along with some jobs going, 13 jobs would be established while others would get changed reporting lines.
The purpose of the restructure was to address key issues identified by the council’s leadership team with the need for "a greater sense of urgency in the way we perform our activities", greater engagement with the community and improved delivery of capital programmes.
ICC chief executive Clare Hadley said both the proposed disestablished and newly created jobs were a mixture of part-time and full-time positions.
"Until we finish the consultation process and reach a final decision on the overall structure, we do not know which positions will be redundant and which staff can be redeployed to other positions."
She has also hit back at claims the council had used Covid-19 as the reason for restructuring.
"The thinking around restructure commenced much earlier this year — staff were presented with a realignment proposal on March 13.
"The feedback we received on that proposal has been incorporated into our thinking now.
"Covid-19 has contributed to the thinking (it changed the way we did business for a period; it has changed our financial position, and it has changed circumstances for many in our community). It is not the reason for the restructure — but it contributed to the thinking."
However, the PSA is maddened, with Mr Barclay saying the ICC does not need to shed jobs.
"During lockdown, Invercargill City Council attempted to slash the salaries of its lowest paid staff by 50% and now they announce jobs will be disestablished just when life was supposed to start returning to normal.
"Our members are stressed and upset, to put it mildly."
He was sure council could spread its financial recovery over a manageable period.
"We are happy to work with them to find longer-term solutions that do not involve cuts to services or jobs."
— Additional reporting by Grant Miller
