Damaged facilities force council to consider redundancies

SAM SACHDEVA

Last updated 05:00 01/04/2011

 

The Christchurch City Council has cut more than 100 advertised jobs because of the earthquake in February, and some redundancies will follow.

Council chief executive Tony Marryatt said redundancies were a "last resort" but were being forced upon the council by damage at council facilities, some of which could be closed for several months.

The council had 143 vacancies advertised before the earthquake, but only 22 are now going ahead.

Marryatt said there would be redundancies, but it was too early to say how many jobs would be lost and where.

The council was inspecting facilities that had been damaged by the quake to determine how long repairs would take and whether staff could be kept on, he said.

"If a facility isn't going to be operating for a year, I don't think we can ask the ratepayer to keep paying staff wages," he said.

He said that where possible, the council would try to move staff to high-demand areas "where there's a lot more pressure on".

Marryatt said redundancies were a "last resort", and he understood the effect they would have on people who had been affected by the earthquake.

"You don't want to do that to anyone, but to do it when someone's personal circumstances could be that their house is stuffed ..."

The council would have a better idea on the redundancies by the middle of the month, he said.