The letter,seen by theHerald,reveals the HSU is seeking a 6 per cent pay increase for its 47,000 members,as well as a 0.5 per cent superannuation bump,when the union’s current agreement expires on July 1.
Whileless than the most recent inflation figure of 7 per cent,the pay demand is still well above the previous government’s 3 per cent wages cap,and would likely spur other unions to seek a similar increase. Industrial agreements covering 200,000 public sector workers are due to expire at the end of June.
Hayes said the union’s demands were an offer to “resolve the dispute we currently find ourselves in”,as the government faces increased criticism for failing to move faster on its election promise to remove the controversial public sector wages cap.
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He said a one-year increase of 6 per cent plus 0.5 per cent superannuation would provide a “buffer” for healthcare workers experiencing increased cost of living caused by higher inflation,mounting interest rate rises,and a legacy of low wage increases as a result of the cap.
“It would be a holding pattern in a context where you have inflation at 7 per cent,maybe another interest rate rise coming,and,concurrently,people and particularly paramedics going to Queensland,ACT and Victoria because the pay is significantly better,” Hayes told theHerald.
“If we choose to do nothing that’s fine,but we’re going to keep training up key workers and they’re going to continue to leave to where they can get a better deal.”