Arjun Ramachandran and Asher Moses report that six prison workers in New South Wales, Australia received letters from the Corrective Services Department that they may be fired for comments they made on Facebook that the department describes as “bullying” and “harassment”.
The public sector union has taken the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission as a matter of free speech during the workers’ own time. The Commission resumes its hearing on Tuesday. According to the reporters:
The contentious comments were made on a Facebook group titled “Suggestions to help Big RON save a few clams”, which criticises State Government plans to privatise NSW prisons and suggests other ways that NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham could save money.
The page was set up in October last year when prison officers decided to vent their anger over government plans to privatise two of the state’s prisons – one at Parklea and another at Cessnock in the Hunter Valley, Public Service Association senior industrial officer Stewart Little said.
Read more in The Age.