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Media Release
Posted 8 September 2011
Greg Piper Supports Public Sector Workers
Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, today congratulated the many people who travelled from the Hunter to march on Parliament House in protest at the O'Farrell government's attack on public sector wages.
According to Mr Piper, well over 30,000 people rallied outside Parliament House today in response to the government's 2.5% limit on wage rises and the sidelining of the Industrial Relations Commission in certain industrial matters.
"The Government is limiting wage catch-ups to 2.5%, even though this is below the current inflation rate of 3.6%," Mr Piper said. "It is totally unreasonable to consign the State's public sector workers to a continually declining real wage unless they improve productivity."
"It's staggering to think that nurses, for example, could be expected to work even harder just to keep their current wages," Mr Piper added. "Everyone should be entitled to a full adjustment for inflation, based on the decision of an independent arbiter."
"There may also be a place for wage rises based on productivity improvements, but only as a supplement to normal cost-of-living adjustments."
According to Mr Piper, there is a long history of wage justice based on judgements of the Industrial Relations Commission. "There can be no justification for slashing the Commission's authority on industrial matters," Mr Piper added.
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