The NSW Government will freeze pay rises for public sector workers for 12 months, as it deals with rising unemployment across the state due to the coronavirus.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the measure will save about $3 billion and has assured government workers there will be no job losses.
Under the current wages policy, hundreds of thousands of public sector employees can pursue a 2.5 per cent pay rise each year.
However, major pay agreements covering police, nurses and general crown employees are due to expire on June 30.
Awards that are currently in place will not be impacted by the wage freeze policy, with the changes set to take effect on an award-by-award basis.
That means around 70 of more than 100 awards would have wages frozen from the beginning of the coming financial year.
The new policy will see current pay levels retained, while the government has promised no forced redundancies for public sector workers during this time.
Senior executives are excluded from the Government's no-redundancy promise, however.
Ms Berejiklian said she hoped pausing pay rises would secure public sector jobs as the state confronts the prospect of a deep recession.
"Whilst we are recovering from the health consequences of the pandemic, we have yet to come to terms with the economic shock," Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Treasurer Dom Perrottet pointed to massive disruption in the private sector, including "forced stand-downs, leave without pay, significant pay cuts, job uncertainty or losing their livelihoods altogether".
"We have to do whatever it takes to make sure we do not end up with a group of long-term unemployed workers who were forced out of the workforce, or young people who never got a go," the Treasurer said.
The NSW government is the largest employer in Australia, employing over 400,000 of the state's 4.2 million total workers.
The latest jobs data from the ABS shows 221,400 people in NSW lost their jobs since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in March.
Wages have fallen across NSW by 4.9 per cent since mid-March, despite some wage growth in sectors like health, social services and education.
Those working within accommodation, food services, manufacturing and science have seen their wages plunge by more than 12 per cent.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA1LTI3L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLW5zdy1nb3Zlcm5tZW50LWZyZWV6ZXMtcHVibGljLXNlY3Rvci1zYWxhcmllcy8xMjI5MTAzMtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjI5MTAzMg?oc=5
2020-05-27 02:24:44Z
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