The same day that public sector workers protested in towns and cities around NSW, including outside Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman's office, the Upper House has blocked a planned wage freeze.
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More than 40,000 public service workers - including teachers, nurses, cleaners, police and prison officers - would have been affected by the freeze on the 2.5 percent rise, in line with inflation.
But Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Government will pursue the pause, and take the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission.
"At a time when there are hundreds of thousands of people out of work, the creation of new jobs must be our top priority, not giving those with job security a pay-rise," Mr Perrottet said.
"We're in the grip of a once-in-100-year crisis and it is simply not appropriate to pretend this is a year like any other."
But Kate O'Neill, president of Goulburn Hospital Branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwifery Association, said the Berejiklian Government was not looking at what support regional economies need.
"Locally, we'd be able to spend that money in our towns," she said.
"For a full-time nurse it's equivalent to about $2000 a year.
"The government offered us $1000 in hush money to shut us up, but that doesn't cut it.
"If we don't get it, it's sad for the Goulburn economy, especially for nurses whose partners have lost jobs."
Due to COVID-19 restrictions on gathering in public, only 10 nurses sporting masks and placards stood outside the office, with representatives of Goulburn Districts Union further up the street.
Following the Upper House decision tonight, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey thanked opposition and cross bench MLCs for their support.
"Today the Upper House has helped prevent the NSW government turning a recession turning into a depression. For that we thank them," he said.
"The NSW Government always looks to its own workforce for savings. But today as we confront the worst economic crisis in a generation, economic sanity has prevailed.
"Teachers, nurses, hospital cleaners, police, prison officers and other public sector workers earn modest incomes and they spend most of what they earn. Cutting their incomes in a downturn is economic lunacy.
"Many of these workers also risked exposure to COVID-19 over the past three months. Despite the deep disrespect shown to them by the State Government, it is heartening to see the Upper House stand up to the Government's bullying and blackmail.
"The Government must make peace with the fact it will run deficits for the foreseeable future. Rather than cutting spending, it should expand public sector jobs. The NSW Government workforce is the best and most effective way to stimulate growth in the economy."
