Nurses and midwives say wage freeze "an insult"

MPs voted on Tuesday afternoon (June 2) to disallow the pay pause which was introduced last week in response to the economic damage wrought by COVID-19.

The Berejiklian government had argued the freeze would guarantee jobs for public servants and free up funds for job-creating projects to support others who have lost work.

But the wages policy has been opposed by unions and frontline workers including paramedics, nurses, police officers and teachers.

Read the full story here: NSW upper house rejects pay freeze

EARLIER: NURSES, midwives, firefighters and paramedics have come out swinging over the NSW government's wage freeze on all public sector workers.

Rally action across the state today (June 2) by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) was supported in Port Macquarie with gatherings held outside Port Macquarie Base Hospital and the office of State MP Leslie Williams.

Port Macquarie NSWNMA branch secretary Mark Brennan said the wage freeze decision was not the solution to stimulate the economy.

Mr Brennan also hit out at state government expenditure on major city-centric infrastructure projects that will deliver no benefit in terms of jobs or to regional areas or the local economy.

"We need a 2.5 per cent pay increase to stimulate the economy in Port Macquarie," Mr Brennan said.

"We are very annoyed. The $1000 sweetener isn't going to cut it. We don't take bribes. It's actually an insult to us nurses. They can keep it.

"We want our 2.5 per cent to put that money back into the Port Macquarie economy.

"If you stop a pay rise, economic growth slows down in a town and job losses occur."

There are 600 people at the hospital who invest their weekly wage back into the local economy, Mr Brennan said.

He added that major state infrastructure projects including the $1.5 billion relocation of the Powerhouse Museum are a waste of money or have shot over-budget.

"Every time this government has a new idea of starting something in Sydney they go over budget, not by millions, but billions. They need to take care of what they are doing with our money

"They always seem to be cutting stuff in the bush, in rural areas. I don't see why we should suffer."

Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams said a 12-month pause on NSW public sector pay rises will protect public service jobs and stimulate job creation in response to COVID-19.

"The policy change will mean current pay levels for NSW public servants are retained, with an unprecedented guarantee of no forced redundancies across the NSW public sector for a year," Mrs Williams said.

"The new policy will be applied to all positions across the government, including state-owned corporations, departmental secretaries and executives, and follows the government's decision to reject a pay rise for Liberals and Nationals MPs.

"The policy will only apply prospectively, and for workers with agreements already finalised, it will apply for the first 12 months of their next agreement."

Mrs Williams said while it was a difficult decision for the government, she believes it is both fair and necessary in circumstances where more than 220,000 workers in NSW have lost their jobs since March 2020, and total wages across the state have fallen by a cumulative 4.9 per cent.

"The change will allow the Government to focus public expenditure on initiatives that create jobs for the people of NSW, ensuring that the hundreds of thousands of NSW citizens who have been made jobless by COVID-19 have the opportunity to get back into the workforce and recover their livelihoods as quickly as possible," she said.

"In the meantime, this decision recognises that recovering from this crisis will require all of us to make sacrifices that serve the greater good of our state and its people.

"Nearly 90 percent of NSW workers are in the private sector, and many of them have already suffered forced stand-downs, leave without pay, significant pay cuts, job uncertainty or losing their livelihoods altogether.

"The new policy will also make it possible to guarantee for all NSW public sector workers a 12 month period in which there will be no forced redundancies, providing security and peace of mind at a time when the economic outlook remains challenging."

NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay said a wage freeze of public sector workers will reduce the purchasing power of more than 400,000 employees in every town and suburb across the state.

"This will undermine every local and suburban economy in NSW. It is a gross act of economic vandalism," Ms McKay said.

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