Wanted to know everyones thoughts on this?
It seems at a time that everyone is trying to support and appreciate essential workers - this is a fair blow.
You've got 18yo kids who are now earning far more on jobseeker than they did working 4 hours a week yet the gov wants to penalise the workers who are most needed at this time.
Might be too close for a fair assessment so open to opinion.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/gladys-berejiklian-announces-12-…
People are free to spend their money where they want, but I should not be punished for their spending habits.
Funny you should say that, in many cases wage increases in the public sector lead the inflation figure, politicians and public servants basically dictate inflation.
That's not how it works… Central banks don't really print money to give out to people… Central banks buy assets, giving money is the job of governments. There are quite difference between Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy.
It’s been a bit of drought lately for obvious reasons but has Gladys got a partner!
No husband, no kids. She said she has "sacrificed her personal life in pursuit of a political career."
Fun fact : she was born a twin and her sister didn't make it. So maybe, not so fun fact :/
Another: went to high school with my first cuz.
She's a "don't call me a chick" chick.
And they dared attack Gillard for not breeding!
Not sure why I got negged for googling the answer to Op's question and reporting my findings.
I can't help but think politicians without kids will not make decisions in the best interested of our next generation…
Now now now, me me me!
It’s the compounding effect of this that annoys me most. I have been getting the 2.5% a year for the last 10 years or so.
This one pay freeze will go on to affect my pay for the rest of my government working life. I can’t see the government giving us more than the 2.5% when times are good to make up for it.
Hopefully that didn’t come off as me being too sour. Just a bit frustrated.
Very happy to still have a job while a lot of people I know aren’t so lucky.
The compounding affects private sector workers too. Maths isn't exclusive to government.
From 2014-2018 I had no pay increase or bonuses, the market wouldn't stand it. I moved jobs in 2018, got a CPI increase in 2019 but we have taken a 10% pay cut with no bonuses or pay rises (not even CPI). This is in a professional industry and from talking to peers it is universal.
The locked-in pay rises were to counter CPI. Why then, when the private sector is stagnant and CPI is projected to be 1.7%, do you deserve an increase 1% higher than CPI?
What have you done to earn that 2.5% raise this year?
If you're not happy with the pay and conditions you could always step across to the private sector.
You make a good point. Many public servants forget that when times are bad, the public service is a great place to be (from a financial security perspective anyway). You just can't put a price on that. Right now, I'm happy to be in the PS regardless of the pay freeze. I suspect most are as well; you're only hearing from the noisy minority in the media right now.
I do sympathise with Hughesyboy because sometimes public sector skills don't translate very well to the private sector, depending on where you come from. This makes it harder for job portability in many cases (depending on what your area of expertise is). You can't just "up and leave" in many cases.
The entire economy faces this issue. We'll always be months/years of economic growth behind the hypothetical world where this didnt happen. In some sectors, production and consumption can ramp up and spike to catch up to varying degrees, but in many it can't. In many, digging out of the hole will be very protracted.
Yeah you do sound like a bit of a crybaby about it honestly.
Many in private haven't had anywhere near 2.5% a year for 10 years, I know for sure I hadn't, I'd be lucky to be at half that or less.
Coming out of GFC with no job and large losses \ debt from that in to jobs (skilled professional) where increases and promotions were hens teeth for everyone it amazes me when I hear PS's complaining, especially with your often 15%+ super.
Stagnant salaries have been common, last year's promotion and salary increase (first real increase in 6 years) has been wiped out almost twice from the 10% salary cuts applied (with possibility of more to come) that's not including any CPI or other increases that were to be paid this year. No bonuses nothing. Easily more like a 15-18% cut and yet you cry over your 2.5%? Get some (profanity) perspective. You think next year I'm going to get a nearly 20% pay increase to return me to being back on track? HA! Not a chance. It will take me another decade possibly to get that back and then get any increases.
So I (like many) have actually lost a significant amount of money compared to what I was on last year, so am going back 2 years in income alone because of some runny noses and a cough.
Still lucky to have a job for now but we've been told that nothing is for sure and the end of the year will be the point where we don't have jobs or lose more money.
My partner in education (private) has taken 10% hit however it seems limited to the end of the year, unless next year is bad in which case the -10% is the new norm.
So yes, PS should cop freezes as the rest of us are going backward financially over this, why should you be immune?
Good points. Nobody is immune.
I am paid the same dollar amount today as I was in 2009.
Many people in this same boat.
Real wage loss due to inflation, suppression of wages due to massive increase in worker supply.
Private sector.
We've struggled to give payrises to my team for years. Now with COVID we've cut all fringe benefits, cut them all to a 4 days week (20% pay cut) and half will likely lose their jobs in the next few months. Our business revenue is down around 70% from Feb 2020.
Sorry but workers whinging about not getting their regular annual pay rise kinda makes my blood boil. So many people's jobs outside of the public sector are being decimated.
I'm not very sympathetic to complaints (as someone who has also had their wages frozen) when a lot of other people out there have lost their jobs, been stood down, have had their hours slashed, or are bleeding piles of cash in their business.
People are really underestimating the economic cost of this pandemic.
That's very true, just wait until job keeper and mortgage holidays end. It's not going to be pretty.
I have no issue with it. I work in the NSW Public Sector. I can't see the point of whinging about a small pay increase while people out there, the very same people we're there to serve, are losing jobs left, right and centre.
The main reason I'm so blase about it is because I've only been in the PS for about 3 years. Prior to that I had worked in the private sector and was part owner of an IT consultancy business for 10 years which survived through the GFC so perhaps it's because I bring a different perspective to most of the noisy public servants you see polluting social media frothing bile wrapped around their sense of entitlement.
As the GFC started, one of my large clients, for whose project I had 2 senior resources ready to go, pulled out the day before they were due to start. We had a signed purchase order and everything. It was a roughly $200K job. Not long after that, we had 2 other cancellations which would have kept about 6 of our consultants fully utilised for months. Not long after, we asked all staff to take a 20% pay cut in order to weather the GFC, which they agreed to. We paid them back about a year or so later including back-pay. During this time the 3 owners took a pay hit too. Why do I mention this? Well, I think that many Public Sector employees have never seen true hardship like some of us. Many of them have never ever had to worry about where their next pay cheque comes from. This I think is why they are being so vocal about it. Not to mention the unions stirring them up about it.
You could argue that it's unfair that the heads of the PS agencies are getting pay rises, but that's just a very narrow point of view. These employees have contracts where these pay conditions are stipulated. In addition, their contracts allow them to be sacked at pretty much any time.
These days, staff in the NSW PS don't know how good they have it. There's flexible working which includes flexitime, generous allowances, good conditions but most importantly - you don't have to worry about where your pay comes from. It just shows up each fortnight. Oh, did I mention that we get paid fortnightly?
OK so there's no "perks" as such in the PS. But during tough times, the PS is great. When the market is growing, pay can lag a little. But the conditions are great, and many of the complainants are forgetting about how tough it really is out there.
Why? One word: Perspective.
Well said
The other thing I should also mention: it's almost certain that NSW Government agencies will be subject to some form of austerity measures after Covid-19 has eased off. Spending will be cut. Projects will be deferred. Any proposal for expenditure will have to have a really good ROI. It's not just a wages cut.
"Spending will be cut. Projects will be deferred"
Interesting; here in Vic there seems to be a push to increase big infrastructure projects to get the economy moving again.
You're right, I was more referring to projects that don't visibly increase public value. Not without a decent cost/benefits analysis anyway. Things like non essential IT work and projects related to that are what I'm referring to.
Big projects that employ lots of people will get priority, I'm sure, like you're saying. Same in NSW. Like roads, construction etc.
Yes. Big infrastructure projects will happen and they are a good way to kickstart an economy. However these types of projects create a lot of jobs that men typically do (not that women wouldn't be capable of doing them) and don't really cater for a lot of other possibly more vulnerable areas of society (people with disability, ATSI, women, etc). These cohorts also need to be considered.
This is absolutely to be expected. I work in government and have no issues with this.
Good way to thank the nurses and doctors by not giving them a pay rise this year. It's not like they deserve it.
I’ve never known a doctor who is in struggle street.
I do, well they technically own struggle street, then rent it out to the less fortunate. Same thing right.
I finished my specialist training just before they stopped elective surgeries. All the positions I applied for closed overnight due to the drop in workload. Haven't been able to find a job since, as no-one's hiring in my field. It's not even the loss of income that hurts the most, its not being able to gain experience at the most crucial time in my career. The irony is that I'd still have a job as a trainee if I failed my final exams. 12 years of studying hard for this… With HECS debt and a mortgage, I am most definitely in struggle street right now.
I am sure you will make it up pretty quickly.
@tryagain: No they won't. As a fellow, this person will be paid peanuts for the hours they are expecte to do, take on-call that none of the senior surgeons want to take, and at the end of the day be told where to go, and because of the contract system, may move many times before settling down.
I think a nurse has the option of doing extra shifts if available or agency work. White collar workers not so much, in fact you’d mostly likely do extra hours without being paid.
They got their free muffins and coffee, and now they’re being offered free roadside assistance, isn’t that enough.
Just be thankyou they have a friggin job. Typical bloody unions.
Don't forget free car rental, return flights and craft beer!
I guess that makes up for no pay rise.
Agree, your post on whether you should upgrade from a iPhone 6 to a 6s was far more thought provoking.
Cya…
People need to understand that public sector workers are coddled. Recessions ONLY affect the private sector. Only private sector workers lost their jobs. 100% of bureaucrats retained their positions at full salary during the Corona pandemic. The majority of government employees aren't essential workers (who I respect); they are unessential pen pushers (who I detest).
You have to have rocks in your head to willing work in the public sector. Everyone desires a government job (preferrably clerical). Government employees are set for life.
Totally wrong on so many levels, but some of us actually choose to work in the Public Sector because we're not driven by money. Might be hard to believe for someone like you who detests anyone with an administrative role (as you so clearly state).
No, Government employees are NOT set for life. Mergers, changes of Government and cutbacks do happen. And not everyone desires a Government job. Just ask. The last role I advertised had 3 applicants.
Your post is so full of pathetic incorrect stereotypes from the 1970's, it's just laughable.
I particularly enjoyed your categorisations: 1) Essential workers and 2) Everyone else, who you detest.
Only 12 months? Meh. Pause pay rises for 2 years unless in special circumstances like someone was due for a pay rise and they had a baby.
Salaries are excessive in govt for the level of work they do - I can understand essential workers and rightly they should be paid. NSW govt said they will save $3 billion by freezing the pay across 410,000 workers. That equates to an average of $300,000 salary per employee.
Next year - there will be budget cuts & redundances in govt. as we head in recession (GST & stamp duty income will drop)
Excessive salaries are burden to taxpayers ( unless they are essential workers like medical staff, emergency workers, etc)
What is essential service?
Do you have a car? How do you renew your license? Who helps you?
Do you have a complaint about your neighbour? Who takes your down your complaint?
Your child falls over and hurts their knees? Is there a doctor, nurse, physio, receptionist at the hospital, do they try to make your child's trip more pleasant?
Who checks your tax returns to make sure you aren't ripping off other Australians?
Guess the train/bus/tram driver isn't essential too right?
Who delivered your mail to your house?
Have you applied for a passport? birth certificate? medicare card? Applied for Jobseeker if you lost your job?
These are all a variety of workers of the public service …. are they essential in your eyes?
Still, $300,000 per employee is excessive - how they are going to pay if public sector employees don't have work?
You do realise that the average pay in the nsw government is like $85k?
And the savings are over 5 years and include the savings from wages compounding.
Most are not.
Who insists we have a license, pay $850 per year just to drive my car on the roads I've paid for and will fine me $865 if I am 2 days late paying this car tax?
Why should I have to pay for someone to check to make sure the government is stealing from all of us 'fairly'?
Not to mention all the other hundreds of dollars a year I must pay just to prove who I am…
I'd rather the government didn't 'help me' like this.
Do you really think the average salary for NSW Public service employee is AUD 300K? Front desk employees, firemen, police officers, etc. in your opinion get an average of 300K?
You do realise that $300k isn't their salary but the amount the freeze will save over the years… Derppppp.
This is a one year freeze. How did you arrive at the saving over the years number? The saving number being advertised is $3 Billion not $300K per employeee.
Guys, please do your maths & read my comment again. Govt is going to save $3 Billion by freezing the wage increase of 2.5% across 410,000 employees.
That is roughly around $300k per person. This is not my opinion, it is a fact - read the article again.
Yes numbers do not lie. They leave it to the politicians. The maths would support your conclusion but it could not be further from the truth. Government must have used the carrot of $3B savings to sell this plan to public. In coming months the number will quietly be swept under the rug or another 'innocent' accounting mistake would be discovered.
The article doesn't say the over what time period they calculated the savings.
Let's do the calculations over 10 years for a worker earning $80,000 per year. Numbers are rounded to whole dollars.
Scenario 1 has no wage increase in the first year and 2.5% every year thereafter.
Scenario 2 has a 2.5% wage increase every year.
| Scenario 1 | Scenario 2 | Savings |
|---|---|---|
| 80000 | 82000 | 2000 |
| 82000 | 84050 | 2050 |
| 84050 | 86151 | 2101 |
| 86151 | 88305 | 2154 |
| 88305 | 90513 | 2208 |
| 90513 | 92775 | 2263 |
| 92775 | 95095 | 2319 |
| 95095 | 97472 | 2377 |
| 97472 | 99909 | 2436 |
| 99909 | 102407 | 2498 |
That's a total of $22,406 savings over a 10 year period.
That's a total of $22,406 savings over a 10 year period.
How long until we reach the $300k per person savings? Over 100 years?
@heal: The government never claimed $300,000 savings per person.
From the article:
On Wednesday she extended that freeze to the NSW entire public NSW of almost 410,000 workers, including teachers and nurses, to temporarily save about $3 billion.
$3,000,000,000 savings ÷ 410,000 employees = $7,317 average savings per employee.
Ebayer007 (not the NSW government) assumes that the savings are over one year and did a reverse calculation to estimate average salary. If savings really are over one year and amount to 2.5% of salaries, then the average annual salary would be $7,317 x 40 = $292,680
Ebayer007's claim is laughable. The average annual salary of the NSW public service (including teachers and nurses) is obviously nowhere near that. Either the figures presented in the article are wrong or the savings have been calculated over multiple years.
If the average NSW PS salary was $80,000 then average savings per worker of $7,317 would be achieved between three and four years.
It doesn't seem like you an do basic maths. How do you end up with a figure like $300K from the numbers in the govt announcement?
Maybe some of the primary school teachers who have had their wages frozen can give you a lesson in long division.
The irony is killing me.
People who think public servants are paid too much - yet will not work in the public sector.
People who think public servants have job security - yet will not work in the public sector.
Complaining about people being overpaid for a certain role doesn't equate to envy at all, most would have to take a pay cut to work in the PS.
Those in the higher tax brackets paying for over-glorified pen pushers above market to essentially be sitting about is where the 'discomfort' is from I'd guess.
This is not an issue about envy;
It is an issue where people complain x person is overpaid - yet will not work in x person's job.
It is an issue where people complain x person has job security - yet will not work in x person's job.
Like many workplaces, there will be some who we would percieve are over or under paid and that's our perception. Life is not fair and that is totally OK. I don't really care what others are paid. If I think I deserve more, it is up to me to go get more. If I don't get more, then I will turn off the TV and get the skills necessary, education, experience to get more. At the end of the day, the buck stops with me and only me.
I agree with your last statement.
Most penpushing PS'ers deserve $45k in my eyes, most settled for dead end jobs and don't bother to leave so i ain't even mad :)
Ask most PS grads, they'll tell you they didn't get offers anywhere else laughs
I don't know why you're surprised - this is Liberal politics at its finest, most blatant, and most shameless.
Considering the economy is expected to go backwards (recession) and a lot of people are taking pay cuts, I think I freeze is actually not bad. Unless they would like to take a pay cut.
OP's note about 18yo working 4hrs per week getting more with JobKeeper / JobSeeker that is a minority. The majority is going to be seeing standard of living going backwards either through pay cuts (or lost your job and taking less money or hours), decrease in asset prices like shares (capital / dividends), rent reductions and various other means.
Honestly it is a disgrace and it shows the lack of back bone from her
If anything MPs should give up there pension and have a pay freeze for 10 years
Credit to Dan Andrews in Vic saying is isnt going to punish the public sector the people working on the front line for COVID19
People who think public servants are over paid more will be shocked to know how much contractors get paid in government departments. Especially in IT, it is not unusual to have salaries of AUD 1100 per day and contracts run from several months to years. Most contractors also find creative ways to save tax on that money.
You shouldn't compare the pay of public servants and contractors. Contracting (to private or public institutions) is a different segment.
Contracting budgets are a huge part of employee expenses and contractors have same job/skills as employees but no accountability and much higher salary.
The total salary cost of an employee is a lot higher than just their nominated salary. It includes costs for various types of leave, long service, payroll tax, perhaps the mandatory superannuation contributions, etc.
The payments to contractors could be direct, or via an agency, or as part of a contract with a large corporate firm (e.g. PriceWaterhouse). Direct payments could be to the contractors own 'company' or similar.
All of these will most likely include a GST component, but not attract additional accruals for leave, superannuation, etc.
A contractor will almost never see the whole $1,100/day that you mention, but if they do I imagine that would be for a reasonably short-term gig.
So:
"…much higher salary…"; maybe, maybe not.
"…same job/skills…"; maybe, maybe not.
"…no accountability…"; that is up to the employer how it manages performance.
How about job security; pretty much non-existent for contractors. Employers have the option to cease the contract pretty quickly.
@GG57: I have to agree with you there. In my agency, contractors generally work way harder than perms and are far more accountable. We have lots of them and they are pushed much harder.
How else is she gonna pay for NSW commioner's salary boost.
whats so bad about not getting one, lots of people lost their jobs, and most other with jobs wont get one, and inflation is jack sh** anyway. Is this an entitlement thing?
i worked in the pubic sector for 6 months, and was appalled at how disengaged and slow the department was, half the staff could be gotten rid of to allow reduction in taxes.
It was so painful yet highly paid, but i couldn't handle the snail pace, so bailed. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but man it was pretty ordinary.
Boohoo. A lot of people have lost their jobs and the economy isn't looking all that great. What's wrong with putting a freeze on wages increase?
This happens all the time in the private sector.
Should really tell us how much each person makes before jumping into conclusions.
Whatever you think about whether public servants do or don't deserve a pay rise, that is $3 billion in economic stimulus that is being pulled out of the economy. What is the purpose of the federal government splashing cash all over the place currently? Economic stimulus! When the NSW public service employees 1 in 10 people, not giving public servants their pay rise will be a brake on the economy rather than a boost. Governments don't have to balance their books like households and individuals because they don't have a finite life span. I'd rather have them give the pay ruse so those 400000 people can go spend that money at the local shops, hairdresser, mechanic, get their house painted, update their furniture and homewares, etc, etc, rather than tighten their spending because they perceive themselves to be in a more financially tight position. This isn't trickle down, it flow out, because gov employees are your friends and neighbours, they're not rich elites. Better than the government funnelling the money into multinational companies for large infrastructure projects that will blow out costs and move a lot of that money overseas. The majority of it would be spent and respent right here in NSW.
If you want the economy to improve and provide you with better opportunities it needs to be stimulated at the grass roots level. Paying government employees their annual increase will do this, and NSW will be a better economy, sooner, for it.
while it definitely sucks to miss out on a pay raise, but the numbers seems pretty staggering.
if my math is right, on average, these people are getting (or missing out on) around $7,317 of pay raise.
now, how many of us in the private sector had seen this kind of pay raise on a yearly basis? not including promotion or changing jobs?
The 3b is over 3-4 years total. Otherwise the average PS salary is 300k, which it is definitely not.
ok, in the various news articles I have read, pretty sure it mentioned something like "pay freeze over next 12 months, saving $3 billion"
but if it is spread over 3 to 4 years, then the figure is much more reasonable (actually, it's pretty crap, just like my pay raises over the last couple of years)
IMO: Mainstream news is pretty right wing and would rather report a higher number, to crush public support.
It’s actually over 5 years and includes the savings from avoiding salaries compounding.
I’ve worked on similar things in the commonwealth, and that’s how it’s calculate.
I'm actually not fully against freeze, and to be transparent I work in the public sector and am likely to be effected. I think its probably just going to be necessary in the downturn.
However, I think cuts to health workers specifically is a terrible move, considering they are directly effected by Covid-19 and are actually asking for (deserved) hazard pay. Cut transport, education, maybe sure whatever. But health? The workers we will need to attract to the sector to care for Covid-19 patients? The doctors we were trying to call out of retirement earlier? The frontline workers DYING to ptotect us? Bad move.
So I support cuts to the other sectors perhaps even deeper cuts, but not health.
Its funny how people dont seem to have a clue about the public sector, The idea that they are all over paid and under worked is a joke. The problem isnt the normal Public sector worker, the problem is the senior management (all of whom came from private sector) who go out and create more and more middle management positions to do their work (delegate all their work to more and more management roles beneath them) and hire private sector people for these middle management roles who also expect a lot of money to come over. What that means is the actual people doing the work has to be reduced to make up for all the extra middle management roles. Plus it also means the problem with public sector is its really hard to get promoted, I was always told and it ended up being true as i saw it first hand, you actually have to leave the job and then work elsewhere and come back and apply for the higher level job to get it, if you tried to progress while staying in the company, its a lot more difficult.
There is an issue with salaries but thats not for your common worker, majority of the times its for the excessive management salaries and roles. There are some common worker roles that get paid quite well but thats only if they opt to take on a lot of overtime and thats again because their no.s get reduced and hence are required to work over time.
No policy exists in a vacuum. Wait until September to see what happens with all those stimulatory payments and mortgage freezes. If public sector employees are lucky, they'll be rejoicing as a few people lose their homes and in some cases families, maybe snapping up a bargain!
I blame the Federal Govt. JobKeeper, as usual :P.
Freezing wages given the situation alone makes sense, but politicians so obsessed with talking up crap and appreciation have created a situation where basically it's "oh thank you so much for your efforts and so essential, have some applause on the street … Oh and your wages are frozen for 6 months, and here everyone else can get paid this allowance while keeping your job security, leave balance, no matter how little work you do".
The actions definitely speak louder than their words.
I've worked in Public and Private - more than 10 years in each.
Public Servants do have huge job security. Complete incompetence is dealt with through more training and department transfer (at worst). I even knew a guy who was torrenting PORN at work and still kept his job.
As far as pay goes, for the bulk of the workers, they get paid about 90% of what private sector would pay, but it's made up with the cruisy working conditions, flex time, mental health days, higher super and bulletproof job security.
Obviously there are exceptions but that's mostly true.
I thought all this was common knowledge?
Millions of Aussies have lost their job completely or had hours cut 60% - 2.5% lost increase doesn't sound that bad to me.
9% of our workforce!? This is NOT sustainable…
Let's not forget it's the governments (with their obviously FAKE virus death models) that are enforcing the lockdowns and killing small business. 150,000 deaths in Australia… pfffft yeah right.
At a time when workers in the private sector are losing jobs while many more having their hours cut, this pay rise freeze for 12 months is highly appropriate. Especially when the public sector workers' pay is paid by these private sector workers and businesses. These are extraordinary times and we can not just act as if nothing has happened.
If front line emergency public servants have a pay freeze the banks are fine, if small businesses can't pay their loans the banks are stuffed. It's never about anything but the banks. It's not about what makes sense.
Something that doesn't seem to be covered in the post or the comments is that the wage freeze is accompanied by a guarantee of NO REDUNDANCIES over the 12 month period as well.
That's huge, and tbh I find this part far worse than a wage freeze. A wage freeze for employees and politicians is ok - public sources of funding are down and its fair in principle that the public sector should respond accordingly. An even fairer approach would be to treat each employee differently, some employees have increased productivity over this time while others haven't. This obviously won't happen.
A freeze on targeted redundancies means that government agencies will be even more inefficient than they are now. The fact is, the world changes, and so does the needs of public sector agencies. Keeping people around who aren't useful isn't beneficial to them, and it isn't beneficial to the public which they serve.
IMO the move wasn't the right decision, but they've clearly got public sector unions on board otherwise this would not be going ahead.
Most of my extended family are govt. employed in some fashion. None of them have suffered any financial impact from Covid.
This might be described as a 'Public Sector' wage freeze but the reality is that the largest organisation within this group is NSW Health. Incidentally, this is also that organisation that is protecting us during this pandemic. While many of us are at home collecting welfare payments such as Job Keeper, NSW Health staff continue to work. In fact they had been ramping up services in anticipation of the health crisis.
To reward frontline health staff with a pay cut/freeze during a global pandemic frankly seems crazy. But then, they say that no good deed goes unpunished.
I've consulted to many public sectors. Glad this is happening. Majority are inefficient dinosaurs, lazy and overpaid. They're often held up by a skeleton crew who actually get work done. The rest turn up late, leave early, spend half the morning downstairs at a cafe or taking a dump. Yes, I am bitter at all the Jobseeker/keeper payments too. I don't know anybody around me who hasn't benefited from this COVID-19 thing at all. Small businesses are rolling in extra cash, writing off brand new Aston Martins, Teslas, buying yachts and so on. The sad part is the dumb PAYG employee will be paying for all this for years to come as small business owners continue to dodge tax like nobody's business as everything is a 'business expense'.
Most people don't realise that they have a job, while also not good at the job,
Maybe all this working from home is giving them grandiosity.
Hmmm I thought the money spent on the Powerhouse move should be redirected to get on with the salary increase…at least that made a bit more sense.
The only cut should be the politicians.
They should only be politicians if they care about this country and make the best decision for this country.
This does not include:
- business class/private planes - why waste our tax money? im sure a 1hr flight in economy is not going disrupt their job……
-corrupt political bribes….
-list can go on….
They clearly in it for the money. Maybe politicians should be capped at average income and they just maybe we will only have the ones that actually care.
Government workers are, reasonably speaking, well paid. Thankfully. The NSW Government is the largest employer in NSW if not Australia. The wages are not only for hours worked but drive entire economies through worker expenditures.
Also, Government salaries are intended to drive the private sector wages higher, not to be brought down by comparison to private sector.
If Government sector gets a wage freeze, then there is almost zero chance of wage movement (other than downwards) in private sector.
A dick move.
In bird culture, this is considered a…
The economy is currently in free fall. We are entering a recession.
Now is completely the wrong time for governments to be cutting their spending, including wages.
The economically prudent decision would have been to keep the pay rise, not to cut it:
- Would put more money into the hands of employees to spend on goods and services, keeping other people employed
- Would have encouraged private sector employers not to cut wages otherwise they risk losing good employees to the public service
- Would have signalled to other governments that they should keep their pay rises
- Would have rewarded front line workers (eg medical professionals) who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe
Not everyone feels that way.
Look at all those that shop at organic stores.