Vic: Threats of industrial action over education dept job cuts

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Vic: Threats of industrial action over education dept job cuts

MELBOURNE, Aug 13 AAP - The public sector union today threatened industrial actionafter the state government announced hundreds of jobs would be cut in the Victorian EducationDepartment.

CPSU secretary Karen Batt said the union would recommend the action, as the governmenthad violated workers' enterprise agreement by not consulting them about the change.

"They could stop anything from school education, VCE exams, right through to the generaloperation of the payment of the Minister and senior bureaucrats," she told reporters.

Ms Batt said the government had ambushed staff by announcing the cuts at the same timeas delegates were being told they would have an input in planned departmental changes.

Education Minister Lynne Kosky said "hundreds" of non-teaching jobs would be lost inthe department's head office after a review identified job duplication and other inefficiencies.

But Ms Batt said there was no surplus staff in the department.

"You cannot deliver service to the school community by continuing to cut the supportand professional and technical groups that allow teachers to be in the classroom," shesaid.

The job losses follow a $31 million cut in the education department's budget this year,but at the time the government said no jobs would be lost.

Opposition Leader Robert Doyle said Ms Kosky was admitting that an 300 extra staffhired by the Bracks government were not required.

"If they were hired in the first place over the past three years, why is it that theyare suddenly redundant?" he told reporters.

He said the job cuts revived memories of the Cain-Kirner years.

"Here we go again. You need to sack public servants because your budget is under pressureand you recognise that that pressure is unsustainable," Mr Doyle said.

AAP bp/dk/mg/de

KEYWORD: EDUCATION VIC LEAD