The job cuts would impact back office staff at Corrections, the PSA said. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Jobs are on the line for back office staff at the Department of Corrections, as well as at Archives New Zealand and the National Library.
Corrections said proposal given to staff on Thursday included axing a total of 49 support roles - six of which are currently filled.
It's seeking feedback on the proposal until April 16th.
"It is critical that feedback is really robustly considered before we reach any final decision and I have committed to personally reading every word of feedback received," Department of Corrections' people and capability deputy chief executive Rebecca Powell said.
She said she recognised the impact of the proposal on her team and did not propose the changes lightly.
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said staff often worked in risky environments and the loss of roles in the back office would reduce the organisation's ability to ensure staff had sufficient health and safety training and development.
She said the workers facing job cuts played an important part in ensuring Corrections could support and retain staff.
The proposed changes would negatively impact frontline services and would have wider implications for the justice system, she said.
"The chain of cause and effect is clear: These cuts will degrade the quality of support to front-line staff. If front-line staff aren't getting the support they need, their jobs will be harder and they're more likely to leave.
"One hand of the government doesn't know what the other is doing. It passes new sentencing laws to put people in prison for longer, but it's also happy to kneecap those helping keep front-line staff safe and help them to do their job.
"This is yet another example of the senselessness of this programme of cuts," Fitzsimons said.
Librarians among cuts at DIA - PSA says
The Department of Internal Affairs has confirmed a net loss of 30 roles across Archives New Zealand and the National Library - 15 of which were filled.
It said the job cuts were in addition to the eight roles that were disestablished at the National Library last year.
In a statement, the DIA said the organisations would operate under a new structure and the joint leadership of the Chief Archivist and National Librarian.
"While there are a large number of positions being disestablished, many new positions are being created," it said.
Chief Archivist Anahera Morehu said the move put the organisations in a good position to use their collective resources and expertise.
Meanwhile, the PSA said it was a sad day for the public servants who worked to preserve New Zealand's history, with librarians, curators, and archivists, among those facing job cuts.
National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the people losing their jobs were "critical to the preservation of our archives and national library".
"This is all about saving money and not about saving our memories as a nation," she said.
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