More than 70 Auckland Libraries staff take redundancies

More than 70 Auckland Libraries staff have accepted redundancies and more than 700 staff will have to reapply for their jobs as part of an organisation-wide restructure, reports Radio New Zealand.

Auckland Council runs 55 libraries and employed around 965 staff last year. The council said its libraries will employ 926 full-time and part-time staff under its new ‘Fit for the Future’ program.

Auckland Libraries general manager Mirla Edmundson said the restructure would lead to better resourced digital, online and telephone services, and an expanded mobile service. No libraries will be closed under the plan.

Auckland Council chief operating officer Dean Kimpton said the restructure would reduce costs by $1.8m each year.

Public Service Association national secretary Glenn Barclay said that while no-one will lose their job under the voluntary redundancy scheme, those ‘whose job has changed substantially may not want to do it any more’. Barclay also observed that library staff will have to work across a local area rather than a single library, ‘so staff would have to carry extra petrol costs’.

Category: Library news