, a rank-and-file ticket contesting the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) elections scheduled for June鈥揓uly, drew more than 100 public sector workers and supporters to a protest against Labor鈥檚 proposed job cuts, on May 27, outside the Victorian parliament.
Victorian Labor鈥檚 , part of its聽2025鈥2026 budget, aims to reduce the public sector to pre-pandemic levels. are slated to be cut.
Speakers included a range of public sector workers. Greens MP Gabrielle Di Vietri said it was 鈥渦nconscionable that the Labor government is proposing such job cuts鈥. She said the government should be 鈥減rioritising鈥 robust services 鈥渢hat serve the community鈥.
Matthia, who works for the State Library of Victoria, spoke about how Victorian Labor had implemented cuts by stealth by restructuring the department. They said it had led to huge and untenable workloads for workers.
Yen, who works for the Department of Education, spoke about how public sector job cuts disproportionately impact marginalised groups, including young people, people of colour and First Nations people. She also criticised the government鈥檚 use of contractors and private consultants within the public service.
Amelia Taylor, a CPSU delegate who works for the federal public sector, spoke about her work experiences. She said workers need to get organised to resist any moves by the government to implement cuts in the sector. 鈥淣othing is won without a fight.鈥
Mitch Vandewerdt, who is running on the for assistant secretary, said the proposed cuts are an example of 鈥渕isguided austerity鈥. If the government was really committed to cutting waste, they said, it would be start with cutting the enormous pay cheques being handed to government executives and subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry.