Only six out of 64 workers have kept their jobs after Hobsons Bay council outsourced the management of two childcare centres.
Parents, staff and the Australian Services Union (ASU) had opposed the outsourcing of jobs at Altona Meadows and Altona North early-learning centres, saying it would lead to massive pay cuts for staff.
The council budgeted $1million for redundancies before awarding management of the centres to Perth-based Children’s Services Support Unit (CSSU). Star Weekly understands about 30 staff reapplied for internal jobs. Six staff from the Altona North centre had been kept on, CSSU chief executive Karri Hillier said.
“There weren’t a lot of full-time employees who actually applied for a position so we were actually quite surprised about that, to be honest,” she said. “All [except nine] wanted casual or part-time positions.
“In the first round of interviews, we were looking for full-time staff. We did employ one casual/part-time staff member because of her experience working with children with additional needs.
“We will be advertising for part-time and casual staff in the new year.”
Ms Hillier said staff who had been re-employed would retain their rate of pay even after their current enterprise agreement expires on June 30 next year.
ASU organiser Martin McDonald said it was “a slap in the face” for council staff that their jobs were now being advertised online.
“Because they’re advertising on Seek now, they wouldn’t be offering the same pay rates to those new staff,” he said.
CSSU pay rates show a difference of up to $15,500 for some positions, documents provided by the union reveal.
The documents also show CSSU trainee positions starting at $16.65 an hour, for which there is no parallel in the current council staff profile.
Council staff who receive a redundancy package are able to apply for jobs with CSSU.
Hobsons Bay chief executive Chris Eddy said the council had supported staff during the hiring interview process by providing training in resume writing and interview skills.
“Council will be offering redundancy packages in accordance with their full entitlements,” he said.
The CSSU is interviewing again later this month, through Seek and from within, and is encouraging staff who have worked at Altona North and Altona Meadows to apply.
