As you know, normal non-senior executive public sector workers have their pay determined by the IRC. The NSW government has enacted a law that makes it illegal for the IRC to award above 2.5% pay rises without trade-offs.

Public Service Senior Executives (including Health Service Senior Executives) have their own IRC, the Statutory and Other Officers Remuneration Tribunal (SOORT) where no such rule applies.

Senior execs can get all sorts of bonuses and within the band increases before adding the 2.5% (up to $46,107 a year depending on the band). On top of that, they can have their base pay increased based on work value or the ‘labour market’ without trade-offs.

The person in charge of ensuring that no normal public servant gets above the 2.5% this year is the Treasury Secretary – yet he was granted a SOORT increase of just under 6.5% in January this year.

Put it in this context, and the 5.5% we are asking for this year doesn’t sound like much, particularly considering the .3% in 2020 and the stolen .5% last year.

So the fight continues.

Tomorrow being Thursday means R3 and below bans (excluding R4s and sporting events) are in place for 24 hours from the first day shift. All other bans continue as normal.

Don’t forget to sign on at the beginning of the shift by informing Control that you are HSU and participating in the bans.

If you are given an R3 or below (except R4s and sporting events) please use this script:

‘Thanks Control, as an ADHSU member currently participating in industrial action, I will respectfully refuse to respond to this R3 [substitute the correct code if it’s below an R3]’

Link to all current bans here.

Keep up the great work.