$3,000 bonus for one group of workers
The NSW government has announced a one-off $3000 payment for health workers to thank them for their ongoing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the decision on June 6, adding that the state’s health workforce would see a major boost of over 10,000 staff over the next four years, per news.com.au.
“I want to pay special tribute to our health workers who over the past two years have done an outstanding job,” Mr Perrottet said.
Paramedics and nurses will also be receiving a boost to their annual wage increases, with the wages of all public service workers being lifted from a 2.5 percent to a 3 percent increase this year, followed by a 3.5 percent increase in the next financial year.
“That’s up to 6.5 percent pay increases for our public servants over the next two years,” Mr Perrottet said.
The increase comes as an addition to natural progression within the public sector and will apply to new industrial agreements made from July 1, 2022.
The one-off payment will be available to permanent staff employed by the NSW Health Service, including paramedics, midwives, and cleaners.
Between now and 2026, the government will spend $4.5 billion on bringing new doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health staff into the system.
The NSW Health Services Union welcomed the influx of staff that has come as a result of ongoing “pressure” placed on the government, which has followed calls from many in the industry for better pay and working conditions.
“We’ve been fighting nonstop for two years: fighting an international pandemic; fighting for recognition; fighting for what we’re worth,” the organisation wrote on Facebook.
“Significant staffing increases will be welcomed by tired HSU members, but we’re not taking the pressure off. We need real pay rises from this government.”
Image: NSW Health Services Union (Facebook)