Yesterday’s announcement by Airservices Australia that at least 300 jobs are to be lost in a restructure has come as a surprise to many, including the staff who will be most affected. The 300 jobs represent almost 10% of Airservices Australia’s current work force and it is hard to imagine how a loss of this number would not impact on day-to-day activities.
The public needs to be reassured that the safety of the travelling public will remain a top priority and these proposed cuts will not impinge on this.
The staff need to be reassured that the process for shedding jobs will be open and transparent and carried out as quickly and fairly as possible, so they are not left in the stressful situation of being uncertain about their working future.
The Canberra community needs to be reassured that all efforts will be made to find alternative employment for those made redundant. Many in the community remember the grim days in Canberra after the Howard Government took power in 1996 and Canberra public servants took the brunt of the job losses, with a devastating effect on the local community.
As yet there is no clear picture as to where the main job losses will come.
Staff are also concerned that more cuts may be planned, describing yesterday’s announcement as the first stage of a review of the operations of Airservices Australia that was begun last year.
With more stages to come, staff are understandably nervous about what may happen to them in the future even if they survive this first cull.
Airservices Australia should now come clean about the rest of the review and reveal in detail its plans for the restructuring.