Rudd urges employers to avoid staff cuts

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has urged employers to do all they can to avoid sacking
staff as the economic downturn intensifies.
Mr Rudd's plea comes as about 650 workers at Alcoa in Western Australia voted to
delay a pay rise due this week and to put on hold another in six months' time.
But as the prime minister embarked on a national tour aimed at reassuring the public
the government will do whatever it takes to maintain economic stability, pressure
grew for a second economic stimulus package.
The ACTU and building and construction industry bosses called on the government to
act quickly while Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull called on the government to
introduce further tax cuts.
During a visit to Adelaide on Tuesday, Mr Rudd said 2009 would be tough but jobs
growth would remain the government's priority.
"This is going to be a hard year and it's going to get harder," Mr Rudd told
reporters in Adelaide.
"We stand ready to take whatever action is necessary in the future to continue to
support the stability of the financial system and to continue to support positive
growth in jobs."
Treasurer Wayne Swan, who was also in Adelaide, said there had been a further
slowing in the economy since the October $10.4 billion stimulus package had begun
flowing through the system with payments to pensioners and families.
He said he would travel to New York later this week to get a first-hand assessment
on the global financial crisis while Mr Rudd would attend the World Economic Forum
in Switzerland next week.
This follows Mr Rudd's comments to business and union leaders on Monday night that
the government was planning a combination of "steely economic management and
compassion for those who need support".
He also asked workers to exercise pay restraint and for bosses to avoid sackings.
In its December quarter survey of its members, Master Builders Australia warned that
builder sentiment had plummeted and the industry could shed up to 50,000 jobs during
2009.
MBA chief economist Peter Jones said that while the stimulus package, including an
extension of the first homeowner grant, had prolonged signs of life in the housing
industry, more was needed.
ACTU president Sharan Burrow said the government should target those projects with
immediate job starts.
"One priority should be retrofitting houses and commercial buildings to make them
energy and water efficient. This serves a dual purpose of tackling the economic
crisis and threat of climate change," Ms Burrow said in a statement.
"If small-scale construction jobs can begin, that will flow through to manufacturing
and services."
Mr Turnbull said the government must look at a range of policies including tax cuts
as part of a new stimulus package.
"Every element, every aspect of government policy must be directed on preserving and
promoting employment. Discipline is vital. Taxpayers' money is not infinite," Mr
Turnbull told reporters.
"The government cannot use its desire to run into a deficit as an easy way out -
that should be a last resort."
Mr Turnbull brushed off a question about the year's first Newspoll, published in The
Australian, which shows the coalition has wound back the government's two-party
preferred lead of 18 points to just eight points.
In a sign that the afterglow of the pre-Christmas family payments had worn off, Mr
Rudd's satisfaction rating fell seven points to 63 per cent while the number of
people dissatisfied with his performance increased four points to 25 per cent.