Workers in regional NSW courts have walked off the job, the latest public servants to engage in industrial action, as the government relies on recently re-introduced "shock absorbers" amid its continuing negotiations with unions.
Sheriffs, whose duties include security and enforcing court orders, stopped work for two hours on Thursday morning, calling for better pay and more staff.
They say their duties have increased significantly in the past decade but their pay has not reflected that.
That has made recruitment a tough ask, along with retaining staff who feel they are facing extra pressure at work.
The government's June budget provided for a 10.5 per cent pay rise over three years as a baseline offer to public sector workers, many of whom are seeking significantly more following deals for teachers and paramedics.
Premier Chris Minns told reporters negotiations with multiple unions are continuing and he hoped the state would not see a repeat of the widespread industrial action the former coalition government faced before losing the March 2023 election.
While many of the state's workers are seeking pay rises, Mr Minns said they were just given their biggest raise in over a decade after his government removed a cap on public sector wages.
"We recognise there's been a historic underpayment for essential workers for a long ... time but we've also set up a whole bunch of changes into how we negotiate with our workforce so we can get better outcomes and less industrial disruption," he told reporters on Thursday.
The government has re-established the Industrial Relations Court in case negotiations break down.
"If the two sides can't agree, then we're off to court, and that's how essentially wages and conditions have been negotiated in NSW for over a century, for a long time, up until the previous government," Mr Minns said.
"There's a few shock absorbers in the system, I'm not anticipating industrial action," he said.
Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little claimed a review of the sheriffs’ pay was completed last year but never released because of cabinet confidentiality.
He said a lack of action put the workforce in a position where they have “had enough”.
“Sheriffs waited patiently and were told the matter would be resolved in the 2024 budget but when it was delivered in mid-June nothing happened and now they’ve been fobbed off again with some other made up bureaucratic process,” Mr Little said.
“They need a solid pay bump to reflect the dangerous work they do, when enforcing court orders they’ll be entering people’s properties wearing stab proof vests, carrying capsicum spray, batons and handcuffs.”
A Communities and Justice department spokesman said sheriffs had been offered the 10.5 per cent pay rise over three years.
The spokesman said “good-faith negotiations” would continue.
A quarter of the state’s 170 courthouses were affected by Thursday’s protest, although no Sydney-based courts.
Sheriffs are also responsible for the security of judges, magistrates and lawyers.
