http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/john-cahill/ John Cahill is General Secretary of the NSW Public Service Association. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-now-out-of-work/ I’m not sure exactly where the ‘back room’ is. But it must be big. If you’re reading this on a computer in an office, you might even be in the ‘back room’. And if you are – according to most politicians and media commentators – you are basically useless and easily dispensable. Feeling good about yourself? In the budget this week, the NSW Government announced it would abolish 5000 public service jobs. Not any particular jobs, just a general cull of ‘head office and back room’ workers. The terrible loss of steel-making jobs in the Illawarra drew widespread concern just a couple of weeks ago. But announcements of cuts to the public service are usually met with something between ‘whatever’ and ‘triple it!’. Unless it’s your job in the firing line, which is why public sector workers and their unions have been a bit toey lately. feedback@thepunch.com.au (John Cahill) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-now-out-of-work/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-now-out-of-work/#item6682 Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:40:01 +0000 John Cahill | Author bios | The Punch