Mater staff in disbelief over hundreds of job cuts as union calls for intervention

A union representing pathology workers is calling on the state government to intervene as Mater Health prepares to axe around 430 jobs.On Monday, Mater staff were told pathology services at its hospitals in South Brisbane and Springfield would be outsourced.More than 100 positions will be scrapped in the next two months, with most of the rest to end next year.In a statement, Mater said Medicare funding had "not kept pace with the rising costs of delivering pathology services" and the "difficult decision" was not a reflection on the "capability, professionalism or commitment" of pathology staff.Together Queensland yesterday wrote to Health Minister Tim Nicholls, urging him to ask Mater to halt any first-phase job terminations until consultation and redeployment processes had been completed."These are highly skilled scientists, technicians, collectors and support staff who have dedicated years, in some cases decades, to caring for Queenslanders," branch secretary Alex Scott said in a statement.Queensland branch secretary of the Together Union, Alex Scott. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)"They were told on Monday their jobs were at risk, and by Friday they have to decide whether to put their hand up for one of the limited roles being retained."Three weeks of consultation and a seven-day redeployment window for a change affecting 430 positions is not a genuine opportunity to explore alternatives, and it leaves workers counting down to redundancy."A Mater spokesperson said the consultation and redeployment period was "consistent with the applicable Mater Enterprise Agreements" and the organisation had extended the closing date for expressions of interest for five roles."Mater is committed to working with our employees and to engaging constructively with representatives of all unions whose members will be impacted," the spokesperson said.Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the government had been in contact with Mater about ongoing services. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)The minister's office did not respond to specific questions about the union's requests.Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mr Nicholls said there was "a real degree of sorrow and sympathy" for staff set to lose their jobs, and the government had been in contact with Mater about ongoing services."Mater have reassured Queensland Health that there will be no interruption to the provision of pathology services to their patients," he said.A casual Mater Pathology employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, told ABC News there had been "whispers" a restructure might be looming but "not for one second" did anybody think the whole service would be closed.A Mater spokesperson said the organisation was "committed to working with employees". (ABC News: Mark Leonardi)"It was quite hard to walk out of that room at quarter past two on Monday afternoon and ring my husband and say to him: we have literally all just been fired," she said."By the time I got home that disbelief starts to abate and you kind of just sit there going — did I literally hear what just came out of their mouths? Did they literally just sack 400 plus people? And then the reality starts to set in, yes they did."The mother, who has three young children at home, said she still had "bills to pay" and would need to find another job quickly."Being a casual they could turn around tomorrow and say 'look there's no more work for you, we've got to give it to the permanent staff,'" she said."I agreed with the Mater values and what Mater stood for and now I don't even know what Mater stands for anymore."The union said it had sought urgent talks with Mater and raised a formal dispute under the relevant enterprise agreement.Mr Scott said the timing "could hardly be worse" for workers and their families.Pathology company Sullivan-Nicolaides is set to become the specialist provider for the Mater under a new service model. (7pm TV News QLD)"Families are already struggling with the cost of living, and this week they've been hit with another interest rate rise. For hundreds of Mater workers, that comes on top of the prospect of losing their livelihoods just weeks before Christmas," he said.Mater said, under the new model, pathology services would be delivered through specialist providers including Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology and Pathology Queensland."The pathology model Mater is adopting is used by private hospital operators across Australia and will allow more resources to be directed to the clinical care of our patients," a spokesperson said.Together Queensland said it had asked Mater for assurances that public patients would not face new out-of-pocket costs because of the changes.According to the Queensland Department of Health’s latest annual report, Mater received $821 million in government funding last financial year for the provision of public health care.