Nurses to rally in Port Macquarie against NSW government's planned wage freeze for public sector wages

More than 60 NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) branches are taking part in actions statewide, appalled by the government's wage freeze and attempt to silence them with a $1000 payment.

They are insulted the government has chosen to ignore the sacrifices they make each day at the bedside, and want all politicians to reject the government's plan when parliament sits in Sydney.

Nurses and midwives believe the public sector wage freeze would harm regional communities and have called on all politicians to reject the government's plan when parliament sits today.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) said it won't be silenced by a $1000 "hollow thank you".

The government has been in discussions about the proposal which would see frontline nurses, police, paramedics and teachers receive a one-payment in return for accepting a pause on their pay for the next 12 months.

The state wants to freeze the wages to save $3 billion in the wake of the COVID-19 economic downturn.

Paramedics began their action late on Monday, with a ban on collecting patient billing information.

"For months we have put our health and our lives on the line in the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to that we worked through months of fires and then floods," the Australian Paramedics Association executive said.

"Standing alongside our colleagues we have been at the frontline of all these crises. Despite this, all the NSW government has for us is empty words."

As well as the billing ban, the association is urging members to use liquid chalk to write slogans on their ambulances against the pay freeze.

Nurses and midwives will gather outside Port Macquarie Base Hospital at 11am and the office of Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams at 12 noon today (June 2).

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