Almost 10,000 jobs could be lost across Northern Ireland's government departments.
Nipsa said the axing of 450 jobs by the Housing Executive was just "the tip of the iceberg". Thousands of public sector posts could go due to an efficiency drive aiming to raise £790m. The government say no staff reduction target has been set.
Nipsa's Bumper Graham said the public sector cuts announced by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor had been taken up by Finance Minister Peter Robinson.
The Housing Executive confirmed the cuts in response to Nipsa claims that 60 temporary staff have been dismissed in recent weeks. The union is threatening strike action.
Mr Graham said: "Overall, there will be a minimum of 3% cuts in staff and administration and a 5% cut in services each year over the next three years [...] You are talking about 10,000 people losing their jobs over three years,". Nipsa also said the job losses amounted to 15% of the executive's workforce.
On Wednesday, a protest was held outside a meeting of the Housing Executive's management in Belfast.
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