The union representing public servants in New South Wales has slammed the state government’s decision to pause public sector pay rises for the first time in nine years.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday said the decision to freeze wage increases for the next 12 months would “protect public service jobs” amid rising unemployment across the state.
Over the past nine years, the NSW public sector wage has had an average annual increase of 2.6%. Current pay levels will be retained under the freeze, and the government has guaranteed no forced redundancies for a year for all workers who are not senior executives.