The union representing prison officers - and a range of other workers considered by many to have been on the front line at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic - says the NSW government should also give one-off payments, like those promised to health workers this week, to employees in other sectors.
The government on Monday announced a three per cent pay increase next financial year and a possible 3.5 per cent rise in 2023-24 for public sector employees, as well as a one-off $3000 payment to NSW Health workers in recognition of their service during the pandemic.
Public Service Association members will rally in Newcastle's Civic Park this morning to call for the payment to be spread more widely. The union also says the wage rise announced this week does not go far enough.
"NSW Health workers deserve a pay rise but so do prison officers who have had to stare down riots in our tense, locked down jails. So do school support officers, so do SES and RFS workers, so do Service NSW staff," PSA general secretary Stewart Little said.
"It's a shameless attempt at dividing workers against each other.
"We need the premier to go back to the drawing board and come back with a fair offer for the women and men who have been busting a gut throughout the pandemic to keep this state operational. No sneaky one-off bonuses for certain workers, just a fair pay rise that will keep pace with the cost of living."
NSW Labor's corrections spokesperson Tara Moriarty said prison officers should be given a COVID bonus payment.
"Prison officers placed themselves in harm's way, as with many frontline workers, by ensuring that prisons [were] guarded from the spread of COVID," she said.
"Prison officers' roles are tough enough, let alone with the additional challenges presented by the pandemic."
Meanwhile, Labor's police spokesperson Walt Secord said police were "everywhere" during the pandemic, but it appeared they were being overlooked as they were not in line for the bonus payment either.
