United Voice News
The Bligh Government announced its final position on asset sales recently.
"It is a back-flip once again by the Premier, from where rail unions had believed the government was going to agree to spare elements of Queensland Rail from privatisation – including workshops," LHMU Queensland Political Coordinator, Scott Zackeresen said.
"The state government can continue to argue this is being done with heavy heart – but it has failed to satisfactorily address why this was kept quiet until after the election while lampooning the LNP as ‘privatisers’.
"It has not convincingly explained why it abandoned concessions secured by rail unions, clawing back thousands of jobs for the sale, around and since Labor State Conference in June," Scott said.
Scott said the Bligh Government had not adequately explained why it continued to consider announcements in the Courier Mail ‘sufficient consultation’ – the latest being the announcement of hundreds of rail jobs being relocated out of Brisbane, broadcast for the first time in the paper.
As an example, Assistant Secretary Kerry Tomlinson on behalf
of our many members who are related or married to QR workers asked Premier Anna Bligh how we could trust the government given the way it has dealt with this issue.
She explained that her own husband is a QR worker whose job was being moved to Ipswich as announced in the paper, without consultation, within a week of them buying a house in the Redlands area.
The Premier did not answer the question, but rather hoped to distract the meeting by listing other achievements. This is the spin we have come to expect.
Accordingly a number of unions who have given support but not campaigned in the “Queensland Not for Sale” will now energetically join the campaign to put maximum pressure back on government to avert these sales.
Keep an eye on future newsletters and the LHMU web page for updates and information on campaign activities.
