Albury nurses have vowed to continue to fight the controversial NSW wage freeze saying they "won't go quietly".
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Standing as one in front of the Albury Base Hospital on Wednesday nurses from all departments labelled the freeze on 400,000 public sector jobs, which includes frontline workers, as "appalling".
The Upper House rejected the 12-month pay freeze on Tuesday, but the state government will pursue the cost-saving policy through the Industrial Relations Commission.
MPs voted to disallow the pay pause, introduced last week in response to the economic damage wrought by COVID-19.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian argued the freeze would guarantee jobs for public servants and free up funds for job-creating projects to support others who have lost work.
But the wages policy has left Border nurses "disappointed".
"The fight is definitely not over," NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Albury Base Hospital Branch president Charlotte Todros said.
"We are here to put on the pressure to the government and to keep it going.
"We certainly wont go quietly with a one off $1000 payment."
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When asked whether now was the right time to ask for a pay rise, Ms Todros said the 2.5 per cent rise is "nothing new".
"It isn't a pay rise it is legislation that has been put into place over the last seven of eight years with the Industrial Relations Commission, it has nothing to do with COVID-19," she said.
"We are here on the frontline, coming to work every day, putting ourselves at risk for our community."
Albury MP Justin Clancy said he was aware of the local protest, but backed his government's "difficult" decision.
"I acknowledge the impact on all the public sector employees at this time," he said.
"The decision was made in the context of the fact we have significant job losses as a result of COVID and certainly a difficulty decision that needed to be made.
"With 221,000 job losses, and more than 8000 here in the Riverina Murray area, the fact is we have many more on JobKeeper and more concerned about their jobs.
"That is why the decision was made to freeze wages and it was made with the guarantee of job security for all public sector employees for the next 12 months because the intention of government is to sustain jobs wherever possible."
Labor MP Adam Searle, who successfully introduced the motion to disallow the regulation on Tuesday, said it was an "act of economic vandalism" that would cut the purchasing power of 400,000 workers in the state.
But Finance Minister Damien Tudehope criticised the motion, calling it "a kick in the guts and a slap in the face" to those who had lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
The pay freeze included a one-year guarantee of no forced redundancies for workers who weren't senior executives, and a proposed one-off $1000 stimulus payment.
NSWNMA Albury Community Health Branch vice-president Gillian Green said the "bonus payment" was an "insult".
"We aren't asking for a money grab, we are seeking what was promised to us - the 2.5 per cent," she said.