Water & Ports

REDUNDANCY & REDEPLOYMENT

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Published on Wednesday, 21 May, 2008

The redundancy and redeployment changes at Sydney Water are ongoing and are starting to diminish the morale of the workers.

As you would recall, Sydney Water CEO Kerry Schott is firmly committed to changing what she describes as a 'redundancy culture' in Sydney Water and believes the best way to achieve this is to reduce the redundancy entitlement for new starters and to place financial penalties on employees after 6 months in the redeployment pool.

WaterNews spoke to two delegates who have worked for Sydney Water for many years to find out what they felt about the changes

JOHN LLOYD

How long have you been working for Sydney Water?
40 years

How many restructures have you gone through?
In the early days we didn't have restructures like we do now. The place was expanding so we didn't have the cut backs. The restructures to me seem to be about cutting back the staff. I've been through 2 restructures and I've survived both.

If during your two restructures you were put in the redeployment pool, how would the recent changes affect you?
I'd be devastated if I didn't pick up another spot. After 6 months you start to lose your redundancy so in essence you are self-funding your own redundancy. I think that because of the changes to redeployment if you're faced with the redeployment pool you've got to go otherwise you're going to be at a loss. It will have a very negative effect because the work of a lot of staff is very specialised, making the chances of picking up something elsewhere at your current level difficult. For somebody like myself who doesn't have the transportable super (I'm in the old triple S scheme) it has a devastating effect. Financially you are quite likely to come out of it very, very poorly.

PAUL MULLER
How long have you been working for Sydney Water?
37 years this coming November

How many restructures have you been through?
A lot - about 5 restructures.

If during your two restructures you were put in the redeployment pool, how would the recent changes affect you?
I would have been greatly affected. With the recent changes, if you haven't got a job after 6 months, and you don't take redundancy, your package is decreased and you are virtually funding your own employment. Also, if after 3 months you're not seen to be actively trying to find employment in Sydney Water, you can be disciplined. The problem is, it's really hard to find a job once in the redeployment pool. People would be happy to get a job and work longer but the chances are slim. It seems that Sydney Water is slowly reducing time in the redeployment pool, which effectively is their way of slowly implementing forced retrenchment.