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April 11th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda A union is warning that a decision to outsource Sydney Water maintenance jobs will jeopardise water quality.
The state utility announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would outsource 135 mechanical and electrical services jobs.
The Australian Services Union, which represents water workers, says privatising the maintenance of Sydney Water infrastructure could risk water quality.
“We’ve got ageing clay pipes in Sydney that are 80 years old,” ASU State Secretary Sally McManus told AAP on Tuesday.
“When heavy rain comes those pipes can be damaged. This is going to happen more and more as the infrastructure ages.”
The outsourcing announcement comes weeks after the NSW pricing authority released a draft paper recommending that Sydney households pay $57 a year less for water by 2016.
“The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has asked Sydney Water to save $173 million in business efficiencies over the next four years,” Sydney Water Managing Director Kevin Young said in a statement.
“These proposed changes are part of that process, keeping costs and bills as low as possible for our customers without compromising quality and the safety of our staff.”
Ms McManus claims the outsourcing arrangement would bring total job losses over the past six months to 335.
She has accused the O’Farrell government of backtracking on an election promise not to privatise Sydney Water by pressuring the utility to return higher dividends.
“I think what the state government is doing is privatisation by stealth.
“They are not saying, `Sydney Water is up for sale, here is a for sale sign’.
“They are simply forcing Sydney Water to cut costs.”
Sydney Water said it was necessary to outsource jobs in order to meet a tough savings target of $173 million over the next four years set by the Independent Pricing and Regulator Tribunal (IPART).
“To meet this target, we are making savings across the whole business to drive downward pressure on consumer prices, without compromising quality service and safety,” Managing Director Kevin Young said in a statement on Wednesday.
“These workforce efficiencies are part of this.”
“Sydney Water is uncompromising in its commitment to providing customers with high quality drinking water and performs extremely well against the national drinking water guidelines.
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