Non-emergency patient transport officers have voted to take immediate strike action, and paramedics are also on the brink, blaming at the "humiliating" offer of a 0.3 per cent annual pay rise after exposing themselves to the threat of COVID for the past year.
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The patient transport officers voted to take the action that will last until the first 6am shift tomorrow. The decision was made during a Zoom link meeting across the state this morning.
Gerard Hayes, HSU NSW Secretary added that widespread action across the health system can be avoided "if the Treasurer agrees to come to the table with a decent and genuine pay offer".
"Any disruption to health today lands squarely at the feet of the Treasurer," said Mr Hayes.
"For the last year, patient transport officers have ferried COVID positive patients from the airport to hotel quarantine, exposing themselves to a deadly, unknown pathogen.
"In return, the Treasurer has made a humiliating annual pay offer that wouldn't even buy a cappuccino each week. This is pathetic.
"The cost of living is rising across NSW with surging property prices and rents and increased inflation. This means the Treasurer's pay offer is effectively a pay cut. That's a hell of a way to reward the heroes of the pandemic.
"These workers have already been denied half of their own tax savings. The Treasurer needs to stop seeing his workforce as a line item on a spreadsheet. These are real people trying to pay bills and raise families."
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