In the face of an assault on the wages of public sector workers, Unions NSW has launched an online calculator set to raise awareness of the financial damage the Berejiklian Government’s policy will do to workers in NSW.
With the NSW Government employing as many as one in 10 people in the state, there is much at stake. The online calculator was devised to inform public sector workers after the Berejiklian Government’s attempts to cut public sector wages by legislation were defeated in the Upper House of Parliament.
Not content with the will of the Parliament — and while many public sector workers are thrust onto the frontline of the pandemic — the NSW Government is attempting to implement the failed wage freeze in a joint public sector awards case being heard in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, and in which Federation has been granted leave to intervene on matters specifically related to teachers and students.
There is no doubt the Government will attempt to impose the outcome on all public sector workers, including public school teachers. NSW Treasury had submitted evidence stating: “Savings accrued from a pause in wage growth are assumed to be reinvested into services consistent with the Gonski 2.0 funding agreement (eg more teachers), rather than be returned to the Consolidated Fund.”
Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said the Government’s evidence referencing the Gonski 2.0 funding could be read as a clear threat that temporary, casual and permanent teaching positions will be cut in every public school should public sector employees receive a well-deserved wage increase. To gauge what the financial cost of a freeze might be for you, visit nopaycut.org.au.