As Sheriff’s Officers statewide walked off the job, I was proud to stand among them at Sydney’s Downing Centre court complex. They were there with a message” they were Undervalued, Understaffed and Underpaid.

PSA CPSU NSW members don’t need to work alongside Sheriff’s Officers in our state’s court system to understand their demands. Because, the issues these Champions of the State face echo right throughout our workplaces.

Like Sheriff’s Officers, PSA CPSU NSW members keep this state going. They are in our schools, TAFE colleges and universities, struggling as funding doesn’t quite match the operational requirements of our education system.

They run our prisons in working environments few of us could face.

We are all over NSW, protecting the environment, running our transport system, electricity generation and supporting law enforcement.

Our members take care of the everyday functions required in the operation of the state, and, when disaster strikes, they step up and perform the extraordinary.

We know our members are vital Champions of the State. The Government knows this, too. Yet, even after voters sent a resounding message at last year’s election in support of our members, we are still seeing restructures and redeployment.

At the time of press, our protracted negotiations over a wage increase for Public Sector workers is still dragging on.

The State Government should know better than this. They saw, from the Opposition benches, the Liberal National Coalition decimate the Public Sector. They know our TAFE system was run down and universities turned into degree factories.

In August this year, I stood among our Sheriff’s Officers. They face what too many members face at work: they are Undervalued, Understaffed and Underpaid. Indeed I could have been saying the same words outside any of the workplaces we cover in NSW that day.

The PSA CPSU NSW knows how hard its Champions of the State work. And it will always be ready to rally in support of them.