Key Points
- The payment will be awarded to healthcare workers in light of the workload they endured during the COVID-19 outbreak
- NSW healthcare workers will receive a $3,000 one-off payment and the cap on wages will be increased
Unions have welcomed the $3,000 one-off payment that will be provided to NSW healthcare workers but have expressed their disappointment that it will be taxed.
The NSW premier announced on Monday that healthcare workers will receive a "thank-you" payment in light of their increased workload during the COVID-19 outbreak.
But the NSW government has confirmed the $3,000 payment will not be exempt from tax when it is received into their pay cycle.
Healthcare workers will also see an increase in their wage cap to 3 per cent this year, which could increase further to 3.5 per cent next year.
The lift in the cap will apply to all NSW public sector workers in all new industrial agreements struck from 1 July.
The state's Australian Paramedics Association branch described the announcement as a "monumental win", but believes the one-off payment .
"The bonus payment we've been offered won't make up for inflation, and is not exempt from tax," an APA spokesperson said.
"We're happy that we've made our voices so strong we can no longer be ignored.
"But paramedics and other frontline staff need real action on wages. We deserve substantive changes that go beyond a catchy headline."
Paramedics, midwives, cleaners and all other permanent staff employed by the NSW Health Service will receive the $3,000 payment.
Meanwhile, Unions NSW remained disappointed with the wage cap increase, describing the "paltry 0.5 per cent" rise as insufficient to meet the demands of a 5 per cent inflation hike.
“This is a short-term political fix to a long-term economic crisis,” secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Morey, said in a statement.
Mr Morey also stressed the need for wage growth to be applied across the entire public sector, which he says is being "smashed" by rising interest rates.
“The key test for Mr Perrottet is whether wages keep pace with inflation. He has comprehensively failed that test,” Mr Morey said.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says "thank you" to healthcare workers by providing a $3,000 one-off payment for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: AAP / Flavio Brancaleone
"I believe it’s fair and responsible. It balances competing challenges that we have as a state after what we’ve gone through over the last two years," Mr Perrottet told reporters on Monday at Liverpool Hospital.
The state is also set to recruit 10,148 full-time equivalent staff to hospitals and health services across the state over four years as well as more than 1,800 new paramedics.
Mr Perrottet said his commitment is "the biggest boost in our health workforce in our state’s history and the largest in the country".
These announcements have come after months of significant lobbying from paramedics, nurses and other healthcare workers pushing for growth in wages, after being stunted at 2.5 per cent since 2011, when the NSW government introduced a cap on public sector wage increases.
Treasurer Matt Kean said the increase in wages was fair and sustainable in the current economic climate.
"NSW is currently enjoying the lowest unemployment on record and it is important to maintain competitive wages to attract and retain the best talent. In the context of a strong and growing economy, this two-year increase to wages is an affordable and sensible policy."
In recent weeks, paramedics in NSW wrote messages of protest across their ambulance vans ahead of the industrial action. Source: Supplied / Brett Simpson
"This payment recognises the reality of what our members have gone through," NSW Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said in a statement on Monday.
"Cleaners, paramedics, wardspeople, security and therapists have worked themselves to the bone to keep NSW safe.
"For people on modest incomes, like cleaners and security, it is a massive boost that makes up for the pay freeze of 2020. It will allow many to put in place a financial buffer against the rising cost of living."
Mr Hayes said while the union is "gratified" that its concerns are being listened to by the NSW premier, they will continue to lobby the state government until the cap is scrapped.
"We need a system that allows workers to bargain for wages based on the cost of living and productivity, not a system based on the whim of politicians."
With AAP.
