Those without work range from crossing supervisors to aquatic centre employees, many of whom are casuals who have been let go permanently rather than stood down.
Thousands of council workers across Victoria are being stood down or terminated as local governments struggle to absorb the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
ASU secretary Lisa Darmanin is calling for greater support for local council workers whose jobs have been affected by the coronavirus.The union’s state secretary said it was crucial councils kept on all current employees to meet the economic and social needs of the communities they served, in the short-term redeploying them to other useful roles and in the long-term ensuring the economic impact was lessened.
Maribyrnong Council has terminated up to 150 casual jobs while at least 10 other councils have terminated or temporarily stood down staff in numbers ranging from the hundreds to just a handful. Some councils have redeployed staff to other areas to keep them in work, but the pandemic has been calamitous for many others - particularly casual council workers.
Geelong Council chief executive Martin Cutter said none of the council’s permanent employees had been left without pay since the closure of services. “It’s important to me to continue to provide work opportunities for impacted employees to ensure they can keep working,” he said. A government spokeswoman said it was working with councils on the implications of coronavirus on their operations and staffing, and on the possible impact on local government elections to be held in October.
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