Union Slams State Govt Over Timber Job Losses
Proposals to make 70 state forest officers redundant across NSW, 20 of them in Eden, will place an unfair burden on harvesting contractors and be bad news for the sawmilling and processing industry, according to the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU).
CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing Products Division NSW State Secretary Craig Smith today accused the NSW Government of being “penny wise pound foolish” in moving to axe the forestry jobs, saying that Forests NSW had oversight responsibilities it was neglecting in pushing through the redundancies.
“The NSW Government is on a cost cutting exercise in just about every government department and Forests NSW is no exception. They (Forests NSW) have announced they would achieve cost cutting by reducing workforce numbers and restructuring the business.
“Part of that is effectively making the role of the state forest officers responsible for harvest management planning redundant.
“The unions view is that the work of these people, managing harvest plans, boundary marking, tree marking and ensuring flora, fauna and cultural heritage protection, cannot effectively be outsourced to the harvesting contractors.
“The harvesters are not employees of Forests NSW and are not funded, resourced or trained to do this work.
“Self regulation will not work; the transparent and efficient management of native forests will be compromised and the natural environment will suffer.”
Mr Smith said over 20 jobs in the Eden area were on the line.
“Forests NSW are a publicly owned asset which should be managed by NSW government employed workers on behalf of the people of NSW,” he said.
Mr Smith said that the job loses had grave implications for the supply side of the local timber industry and that local saw mills and allied industry should join the CFMEU in lobbying the NSW Government to reverse the decision.
“I’ve been contacted by many sawmill managers across the state and in the Far South who have raised concerns with me about the consequences of supply of logs and wood fibre to the industry. The problem is that none of these companies or site managers are prepared to go public on that because they are customers of Forests NSW. They are concerned about retaliation if they speak publicly about their concerns,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith’s concerns are not shared by local sawmill manager Allan Richards of Blue Ridge Hardwoods.
“I am not aware at this point in time that Forests NSW is changing its management practices. But if it is, then if the appropriate audit and check measures are put in place, then I’ve got full confidence in the contractors being able to carry out the right job,” said Mr Richards on Tuesday.
