Newcastle Labor councillors have called for an explanation after Beresfield pool staff were terminated following the decision to lease the swim centre to a private operator.
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery issued a media statement on October 12 expressing "her concern and disappointment" about the sacking of 12 casual or seasonal lifeguard positions from Beresfield pool.
It included a Notice of Motion to Parliament which called on "City of Newcastle to re-employ the 12 staff and apologise to them and to the ratepayers of Newcastle for this action".
Ms Hornery pointed to a November 2022 City of Newcastle media release that declared any changes to the pool management would not result in job losses.
Ms Hornery and Labor councillors have been embroiled in a public stoush over the pools, with the Wallsend MP critical of the swimming centres being managed by a private operator.
"At a state level, the Premier has been clear, no more privatisation of services," she said. "I will always fight against privatisation at any level of government because it leads to poorer outcomes for the community."
But Labor councillors, which include lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes, deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen, Peta Winney-Baartz, Carol Duncan, Margaret Wood, Deahnna Richardson and Elizabeth Adamczyk, responded after Ms Hornery's statement saying they were not aware of the decision by council staff regarding seasonal casual employees.
"Subsequently, we have asked the acting chief executive officer for a full explanation regarding why the elected council were not given notice of this matter prior to the decision," the councillors said in a joint statement.
CEO Jeremy Bath made the decision in July to continue leasing Mayfield, Wallsend, Stockton and Lambton pool to BlueFit in addition to Beresfield, which was formerly run by the council.
The decision was delegated to the CEO after Labor councillors declared a conflict of interest in the matter, meaning a quorum could not be reached.
The Labor councillors said the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption had "endorsed this action".
A City of Newcastle spokesperson said the council employed one full-time permanent and "a number" of seasonal casual pool attendants during the 2022/23 swimming season at Beresfield Swimming Centre.
"Like all casual employment arrangements, some seasonal casual pool attendants were only engaged for a small number of shifts during the season, whilst others had more, depending on rostering needs and employee availability," the spokesperson said.
"Letters were recently sent by CN to the casual pool attendants to meet CN's obligations under our Enterprise Agreement by notifying them of the outcome of a workplace change process, which ran over an extended period and provided them with an appropriate opportunity for consultation.
"The letters provided a pathway for the seasonal casual pool attendants from Beresfield Swimming Centre to continue casual work either through BlueFit or other CN facilities and services."
The permanent employee has redeployed to the ocean baths and some casual pool attendants remain employed by the council in other roles, the spokesperson said.
The council said it would offer casual opportunities at both ocean baths this summer, with higher patronage "expected due to the warmer and drier El Nino weather pattern".
United Services Union Northern Region manager Stephen Hughes said he was aware of one unsigned complaint regarding the council's handling of pool staffing.
He said after following the pools situation in the Newcastle Herald, he thought much of the debate was "internal bickering" within the Labor party.
"I don't support the outsourcing of pools, but this has been a long-term problem," Mr Hughes said. "I think a lot of it comes down to costs of ageing infrastructure. It's a problem all councils are facing.
"While I would prefer to see it all come back under council, we also have a council that has core numbers of staff in its agreement and is operating above the core numbers."
BlueFit is managing the pools while council awaits the outcome of its application to the Minister for Local Government regarding the proposed lease arrangement.
