Nicholas Rupolo, Narrandera Argus

Health Services Union paramedics across the Riverina will only attend to serious emergencies today following NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s wage increase offer the union describes as “humiliating and insulting”.

A 24-hour strike today (June 10) will see paramedics only treat “the most urgent, life threatening emergencies” in an attempt to force the hand of the government.

This industrial action has been taken by workers and the union after they were offered a 0.3 per cent pay increase in 2020 and a 1.5 per cent increase in 2021.

The union says it is a low-ball offer considering the government’s budget accounts for inflation at 2.2 per cent.

Following the freezing of public sector wages, the union says paramedics deserve better than what is being offered.

Health Services Union Riverina organiser Mick Grayson said regional paramedics were at a significant disadvantage from lower pay and costly work practices.

Mr Grayson said regional staff had paid for their own professional development, registration fees and working with children checks.

“And the government basically refuses to pass on a meagre 2.5 per cent pay rise,” he said. “Queensland and ACT paramedics are approximately $200 a week better off than NSW paramedics. Specifically in the Riverina, paramedic numbers are the lowest of the major states, the Riverina has the lowest paramedic to community ratios, they work harder for less.”

A major concern for paramedics and the HSU is the low wage offers paired with rising average increases in the cost of living.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics cost of living analysis from 2009 to 2019 showed the “overall level of prices has increased 23.4 per cent” which was “slightly lower than wage growth, which increased 30.5 per cent “.

However, the analysis also concluded “certain households will feel the impact more strongly than others, particularly in the context of low wage growth”.

With the annual income of a NSW paramedic at approximately $76,000, Mr Grayson believes the wages policy of the government squeezes paramedics even more.

“Paramedics are withheld from holding professional wage claims,” Mr Grayson said.

“Professional wages claim is about scope of practice, it gives the government opportunity to look at skills to provide to a community.

“While paramedics would receive higher wages, the community would also receive higher skilled workers.

“The government has wages regulation that prohibits pay rises above 2.5 per cent, we can’t run a pay claim while that regulation is there.

“Nurses, doctors, physios have a professional wage claims but paramedics haven’t been afforded to run that claim, unlike in Queensland and South Australia.”

HSU NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes said the action was necessary following their treatment from the government and has ensured that while the action is underway it won’t have any impact on major health issues.

“NSW paramedics are at breaking point,” Mr Hayes said.

“They’re not trying to get rich. They just want a fair pay rise that recognises the cost of living and the intensity of their work.

“Our paramedics were required to transport COVID-positive patients, without adequate protective equipment. They were exposed to a wild and deadly disease, yet they continued to serve the people of NSW and protect their health.

“To offer them a pay cut is humiliating and insulting. NSW paramedics are already the worst paid in the country and personally carry the cost of their professional registration and education. This pay cut will set them further behind.

“We are flagging this action well in advance and have designed it to avoid impacting life threatening emergencies.

“There will, however, be significant disruption on the day.”

A spokesman for the NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said prior to the hearings in the Industrial Relations Commission NSW the Government extended an offer of a $1000 bonus to frontline workers and a job guarantee for 12 months.

They claim this would have seen non-executive frontline personnel such as nurses, police, paramedics and teachers receive a one-off payment of $1,000.

The policy was defeated in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament.

“Last month the Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW reaffirmed the Government’s plan to prioritise job-creation to keep as many people in jobs as possible as we get our economy back on its feet,” a spokesman for the Treasurer told The Argus.

“Our paramedics, nurses, doctors and health professionals have done an outstanding job protecting our community and the Government thanks them for their extraordinary work.

“The Government is focused is on maintaining its first-class health response, which has allowed NSW to lead the nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic.”

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 10 June 2021.