Redundant staff costing ratepayers

Council offices, Greys Ave. Photo / Janna Dixon

Ratepayers shelled out about $20 million to make 650 council staff across Auckland redundant.

And now they will have to pay another $1.6m to hire more workers for the new Supercity council - including some of those who were made redundant.

Fifty permanent and fixed term workers will be hired in cleaning, library, security and customer service roles.

Public Service Association national secretary Richard Wagstaff said he was surprised the council was now hiring so soon after redundancies.

"We would hope that any new jobs haven't wasted money and people's livelihoods on redundancies," he said.

Auckland Council does not have a final redundancy payout figure yet, but spokesman Glyn Walters said it would be between $15m to $20m.

The PSA had worked hard to save jobs and transfer many into the new Auckland Council, said Wagstaff.

"We certainly were cautious and urged the council not to overdo [redundancies]. Our initial policy and recommendations were not to make anyone redundant...to make the changes and let people stay until it was sorted out.

"We don't know if they have overdone redundancies. Fifty jobs is not a lot but we have always said that time will tell if they have overdone it, and that would be extremely disappointing."

Walters said if staff who had been made redundant were re-hired, redundancy money would have to be returned.

There was always the possibility more staff would have to be hired after the redundancies, he said.

"Over time, there may be instances of this as the needs of the business to serve the public evolve.

"The recruitment of frontline staff who provide services to the public is a priority for Auckland Council.

"Managers are being advised how they can recruit frontline staff to ensure continuity of service to the public."