Unions: It’s all about slashing, not reform

TRADE union reaction to the public service plan was largely negative last night with IMPACT, the largest union in the sector, claiming it would result only in job cuts, not reform.

The union said the setting up of the expert group to identify inefficiencies in the sector was driven purely by the need to cut costs because of the recession rather than any desire to improve services.

“There is very little fat to cut,” said spokesman Bernard Harbor. “No doubt there is some scope for savings and redeployment to meet changing priorities, but large-scale redundancies will hurt services and the people and communities that need them.”