Traffic on the Princes Hwy near Gerringong. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
The Illawarra will not be affected by Roads and Maritime Services proposed outsourcing of road maintenance, a RMS spokeswoman said.
According to Australian Workers Union NSW state secretary Russ Collison, RMS this week told their employees in Sydney that it was presenting a business case to the state government to contract out up to 500 workers in the Sydney metropolitan area.
An RMS spokeswoman said the proposed outsourcing was restricted to the Sydney metropolitan area and jobs in the Illawarra were not at risk.
"The NSW government is committed to pursuing a range of options for working with the private sector with the aim of delivering better services at a lower cost and with greater innovation," the spokeswoman said.
"RMS is preparing a business case for consideration by government concerning road maintenance contestability in the Sydney metropolitan area."
She said the government was yet to consider the RMS proposal but added there would be no changes made before June this year at the earliest.
However, Mr Collison said outsourcing road maintenance could easily create traffic chaos.
"Cutting back service levels in road maintenance is political madness and will inevitably leave Sydney motorists stuck in gridlock," he said.
"Many of the tasks and back-up provided by government employees cannot be written down into a few simple lines on a contract for private providers to tender for," Mr Collison said.
"RMS employees provide a public service and respond to emergency situations that are different every day, so as to keep the traffic moving."
