EXCLUDING Hunter supermarket workers from receiving the government's newly announced $320 test and isolate support payment could be the difference between them being able to pay rent and buy food or not, says the union that represents them.
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) Newcastle branch secretary Barbara Nebart said it was "absolutely vital" the government broadens the eligibility for the payment from a handful of Sydney council areas to include the entire state.
She said Hunter supermarket staff were essential workers who could not work from home and were often employed on a casual basis, meaning they do not receive any income if they have to isolate after a COVID-19 test while waiting to receive their result.
Some Hunter residents are reporting waiting up to 96 hours for their results from Laverty Pathology.
"For some people that [$320] would be the only income they would then be getting," Ms Nebart said.
"It could be the difference between eating and not eating if they're a person that lives outside the family home. It could be rent or something for the week, so it is absolutely vital to get that.
"This is not a good situation for anyone to be in."
She said she'd had reports of local supermarket workers being told to isolate because they had visited exposure sites and having to miss shifts, only to have the dates and times of concern at the sites revised.
"We've had a couple of instances where people are then isolating when they did not need to because they were given the wrong date or time," she said.
"There is a large proportion of casual workers in the industry so if they have to miss out on those shifts because they're isolating, that's extra financial stress for them."
Ms Nebart said Hunter supermarket workers had already missed out on priority vaccination arranged for their Sydney colleagues.
"At the moment we're extremely vital, people still have to eat no matter what is happening elsewhere," she said.
"Our people don't have the choice of working from home and they have to turn up everyday or every shift that they're given to serve the public, some of whom are quite awful to them.
"Our shop assistants, they're stacking the shelves, they're serving people at registers, they don't make the rules, they're not responsible for what stock is available or what the rules are around how many packets of toilet paper you can buy.
"So to be treated badly in that way causes them anxiety to start with, but also having to be in front of the public, some of whom don't want to wear masks or who don't QR code in, is causing them anxiety from their own health point of view as well, particularly when a lot of retail workers are young people as well, who aren't yet technically eligible for some of the vaccines and those that are having trouble getting access because of supply. So there's a whole raft of issues."
Labor said it would fight for the payment to be expanded beyond Sydney.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said it was "outrageous" the payments are not available in the Hunter, especially as some residents are waiting more than five or six days for test results.
"Whether you're in Mayfield or Fairfield, the financial pressures are the same and there should be equal access to these payments," he said.
"Through this outbreak anywhere outside Sydney has been treated with very little regard by this government, so it's not surprising that we've been cut off from this payment.
"The testing rates and extraordinary, and that's exactly what we need, but with that comes pressure on the system to process these tests and we know that some pathology providers are not coping.
"This is not a Sydney problem. It is an issue across the whole state and it's not fair that the regions should be left out.
"Right across the Hunter people are doing it tough. Provide people with the appropriate financial support so they can do the right thing without the stress of losing any income."
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said she was worried about Hunter small businesses and workers who would benefit from the payment, which applies to people who can't work from home during self isolation, don't receive any income, earnings or salary during self isolation and don't have access to sick leave, carers leave or special pandemic leave.
"I really think the government needs to rethink this and instate it also for Hunter people and anyone across NSW now that we're in this situation [of a statewide lockdown]," she said.
