Long day care workers in the Hunter set to receive 15% pay increase

BY OLIVIA GOELDNER

After significant efforts from the Independent Education Union, long day care workers in the Hunter are set to be awarded a 15% pay increase. 

Under the current award, full-time long day care workers are being paid $93,000 a year, but with the increase it will be bumped up to over $107,000. 

The federal government is set to invest $3.6 billion dollars into the increase, with pays to jump up by 10% in December, and 5% a year later. 

The union also welcomed the proposed 4.4% cap on fee increases for parents over the next 12 months. 

Carol Matthews from the union says the pay rise is aiming to boost workforce attraction and retention. 

"The rate of pay at the moment, is well under that of teachers in schools. 

"The conditions are pretty demanding, both the nature of the work and other conditions that go along with it. that has led to a real shortage of teachers and services are finding it really hard to fill those positions." 

Additional laws being requested by the union aim to address the long-term failure to properly value work in feminised sectors including early childhood education and care. 

"It's not an accident that female dominated areas are being paid less than those with less women, so it's a great move. We know there is more work to do, but this is a great first step."

Discussions are currently being made between the union and the federal government as to how the funding will be distributed. 

Pay Rise In Store For Hunter Teachers

BY OLIVIA DILLON 

Hunter teachers are set to receive a pay rise, after the Teachers Federation finally reached an in-principle Heads of Agreement with the state government after months of wage negotiations. 

As part of the agreement, the government has withdrawn its previous four-year proposal, which included a 2.5% pay increase in years two, three, and four. 

If the agreement is endorsed, it's expected the starting salary for local teachers will increase from $75,791 to $85,000.

The pay packet for a top of the scale teacher will increase from $113,042 to $122,100. 

Both school counsellors and casual teachers will also be paid according to new adjusted salary scales. 

Members of the Teachers Federation say the historic deal will be a major step forward in the push to attract and keep more teachers in the classroom. 

Essential Hunter Workers Call to Scrap the Public Sector Wage Cap

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Essential workers from the Hunter gathered at the John Hunter Hospital this morning, in a bid to address issues surrounding wages and staff shortages. 

Ahead of the event, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey, launched a new report, detailing how much health and education workers will be out-of-pocket if the wage cap for public sector workers isn't scrapped. 

The research into the impact of the wage cap on the pay packets of essential workers shows it will leave nurses, paramedics and teachers worse-off by between $10,000 and $12,000 dollars when adjusted for inflation over 3 years.

It also details how the 3% wage cap is adding to critical staff shortages, noting vacancies for education professionals in the region have tripled. 

Mark Morey said something needs to be done. 

"We're calling on the NSW Government to get rid of the cap, and to negotiate wage increases for its essential workers," he said. 

He said scrapping the cap is the only way to address mass vacancies across the Hunter. 

Image: Newcastle Herald

Paramedics to Escalate Industrial Action

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Paramedics will escalate their industrial action from Monday, in response to state-wide ambulance shortages. 

The action comes after the Australian Paramedics Association NSW announced there were zero transport ambulances available for patients in Newcastle yesterday. 

Illawarra and the Central Coast have also been stung by the shortages and had no vehicles available. Meanwhile there were only 8 cars available in the Sydney LGA. 

An overflowing ambulance bay outside the John Hunter Hospital on Thursday also offered insight into the severity of the region's healthcare crisis. 

Secretary of the Hospital's branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Rachel Hughes, told the Newcastle Herald this was a regular occurrence, with vehicles often forced to park on the road and in no stopping zones while they waited to offload patients. 

As part of the proposed action, participating paramedics not be putting patient billing information on their electronic medical records, making it much harder for NSW Health to send patients an ambulance bill.

They will also be refusing staff movements, which would see them relocated to another station once on shift, and are calling for an additional 1500 staff. 

State Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said the sector's lack of support is bearing fatal consequences. 

"People are waiting enormous times to actually get an ambulance. We had the terrible situation of a death of a Lake Macquarie woman who waited 7 hours for an ambulance back on the 29th of April, and she passed away only ten minutes after being admitted; that's a catastrophe," Mr Crakanthorp said. 

A 31-year-old Maryland mother also passed away last year after suffering from anaphylactic shock and waiting an hour for an ambulance to arrive. 

In response, NSW Ambulance is currently reviewing a pilot plan to use taxis to transport non-emergency patients to general practitioners and pharmacies.  

However, there are concerns this would just transfer the workload onto already under-pressure GP's. 

Mr Crakanthorp wants all avenues to be considered, and said it's fair enough paramedics are fed up. 

"They're tired of apologizing for attending to patients hours late and they're passionate about their job, they're passionate about healthcare, and when they can't get to patients quickly enough, they're devastated and so am I," he said. 

"On behalf of the community and myself, I'm calling on the government to increase resourcing and wages." 

NSW Paramedics will escalate industrial action starting Monday.  

Hunter retail workers calling for wage increase

BY OLIVIA DILLON

A new survey of nearly 10,000 retail, fast food and warehouse workers has highlighted the need for a national wage increase, both in the Hunter, and across the country.

The results of the survey from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), show members are struggling under falling living standards. 

SDA Newcastle branch secretary Barbara Nebart, commented on the survey results, and said workers across the country deserve better. 

"79 percent of people said that the rising cost of living is putting enormous pressure on their budgets, and their standards of living have decreased over the last five years," she said. 

"The vast majority also said any delay in the National Wage Case would cause them further hardship."

Ms Nebart said the SDA is now calling for a wage increase which reflects the latest inflation rate of 5.1%, as well as the increases in childcare and housing costs over the last year. 

"Over the last two years of national wage increases, retail and fast food workers- who have been essential workers throughout the pandemic- got delayed wage increases. They weren't payed on the 1st of July with everyone else. In 2020 it was delayed until February of the next year, and then last year it was delayed until September. What's the reasoning for that?" she said. 

Ms Nebart said Hunter workers have been particularly effected by rising housing costs and rental prices, as people sought to escape rising living costs by leaving the city. 

She also said an economic boost is particularly important for rural communities, with recent figures indicating retail wages contribute to over $15.7 billion per year to the economies of rural areas, country towns and regional cites. 

SDA National Secretary Gerard Dwyer said the National Wage Case needs to make up for a decade of sluggish wage growth.

He said "Retail workers are no longer working to get ahead, they are not even working to stand still, they are working hard to go backwards." 

 

Retail workers across the country are calling for a wage increase