The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) NSW have revealed the Berejiklian Government’s plans to slash almost 700 frontline TAFE jobs.
TAFE NSW has reported that “major restructures” have been proposed by the Berejiklian government which will shed 10 percent of educational support jobs, 470 of which are based in regional areas.
The jobs being cut include a variety of roles essential for a functional TAFE campus, including student advisors, customer support officers, field officers, VET fee help coordinators, help desk operators, and more. Maintenance workers such as gardeners, caretakers, security officers, tradespersons, and fleet control managers will also be let go.
Stewart Little, General Secretary of CPSU NSW, criticised the Berejiklian Government for rendering campuses across the state “unworkable” and “deliberately dismantling TAFE NSW to ready it for sale.”
“TAFE NSW is a vital piece of infrastructure that must remain in public hands, not dismantled for private operators” he said.
He also perceives these changes as reckless in the midst of a volatile economy, given the proposed job losses come with the ceasing of the JobKeeper subsidy at the end of March.
“What do the people of NSW get from this gutting of critical training infrastructure? Fewer jobs and a hobbled education system. In the middle of the worst economic downturn that the state has seen in a generation the Berejiklian government is closing pathways to prosperity”.
This news comes after cuts to higher education at a federal level, resulting in more than 17,000 job losses.
