Unions seek $28 a week increase to the National Minimum Wage

Unions are seeking a $28 a week pay rise for Australia’s lowest paid workers, to help ensure all members of our community can participate in the nation’s strong economic growth.

The ACTU asks that the Fair Work Australia Minimum Wage Panel increase the National Minimum Wage ('NMW') by $28 per week. We also ask that the Panel increase minimum wages for workers employed at award classification rates equivalent to the C10 rate or below by $28 per week. We ask that workers employed at the C9 classification rate (or equivalent) and above receive a 4.2% increase to their minimum rate.

The ACTU has asked Fair Work Australia's annual wage review to increase the award wage for the lowest paid workers to $597.90. This would mean a 74c/hour increase from $15 an hour.

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said it would seek a $28 a week increase in the National Minimum Wage and in other award minimum wages up to the benchmark tradesperson's rate; and a 4.2% increase for other award workers.

"For the majority of award-dependent workers we are seeking a 4.2% increase," Mr Lawrence said.

"This modest wage increase for our 1.4 million lowest paid workers - one in six of the workforce - is necessary to allow them to share in Australia's economic prosperity.

"Every Australian deserves a decent standard of living and the nation's strong economic growth should not be a spectator support for the low-paid. Our economy is growing, profits are at record levels, and unemployment is low. But living costs are rising sharply for the low-paid.

"Minimum wage workers are the backbone of the economy. They are the people who clean our schools and shopping centres, serve us in hotels, who take care of our elderly and our children.

"These are people we cannot live without, yet their value is not reflected in their pay packets. We must ensure they are not left behind."

Last year, the ACTU won a $26 a week increase for minimum wage workers but that came after a wage freeze in 2009 off the back of the global economic downturn.

An extra $28 a week is modest in comparison to the growing gap between what minimum wage earners are paid and what companies are earning in profits."

By contrast, the big employer groups are offering a real cut in wages for the low-paid.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has asked FWA to increase the award wage by just $9.50, while the Australian Industry Group is calling for a $14 a week pay increase.

"In real terms, that's a pay cut because both miserly offers are well below any measure of inflation," Mr Lawrence said. "ACCI's offer equals a 1.7% increase to the minimum wage and 1.4% to the base trade rate - a real wage cut of $5.89 a week for minimum wage earners and $8.42 for the trade rate when you take CPI into account.

Mr Lawrence hit back at the employer groups' assertions the ACTU's claim was too expensive.

Mr Lawrence said the submissions by ACCI and AIG were insulting and showed the top end of town was clearly out of touch with real Australian workers.

"The employer groups want to send the most vulnerable workers backwards and that's not only un-Australian but it doesn't make good economic sense," he said.

"Retailers rely on workers across the board to spend money with them. If those workers can't afford to spend because their income isn't keeping up with the cost of living then the retailers will feel the pain."

"It is disgraceful for these employer organisations to claim hard-working Australians who don't have the opportunity to bargain for their wage should survive on effectively a pay cut while the cost of living is rising," he said.

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Last Modified: Friday, 15-Apr-2011 09:46:14 EST