ID :
186306
Fri, 06/03/2011 - 13:34
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/186306
The shortlink copeid
Low-paid get wage in Australia rise of $19.40 a week
SYDNEY (AAP) - Australia's lowest-paid workers have been granted an extra $19.40 a week, but unions say the increase is not enough and business leaders argue it's unaffordable in tight times.
The federal government has welcomed the independent umpire's decision as economically responsible while putting more money in the pockets of 1.36 million Australians.
Fair Work Australia (FWA) on Friday announced the minimum wage would rise to $589.30 a week, from $569.90, from July 1.
ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence said it was a welcome increase that would maintain real income for minimum-wage workers but it did not go far enough.
"The reality is, this increase is still below what other workers have been getting," Mr Lawrence said.
Rises in the cost of petrol, power and other government charges were impacting on the low-paid more significantly than on other workers, he said.
The ACTU had proposed a weekly rise of $28, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had argued such a rise would prompt businesses to cut working hours and put pressure on inflation.
The key business lobby group had proposed an increase of $9.50 a week.
United Voice, the union representing cleaners and other low-paid workers, described the minimum wage as a "prison sentence" and said the pay increase would come as cold comfort to low-paid workers.
The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the decision, while striking a balance between union and employer claims, would likely create hardship for small to medium-sized businesses.
"Some businesses may find that this blows their labour costs out to the point where they may have to shed staff," the chamber's manager of workplace relations policy Alexandra Marriott said.
Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan said the wage rise was likely to flow into price increases.
Fair Work Australia said many businesses were facing a tough time after the summer of natural disasters.
But FWA president Justice Geoffrey Giudice said the tribunal would not defer the date at which the increase in the minimum wage would come into effect, despite a number of parties seeking a delay.
"We are conscious of the hardship which has been inflicted on many businesses, particularly small businesses, by recent natural disasters in many parts of Australia," Justice Giudice said.
"In the 12 months since the last review, Australia's economy has continued to perform strongly despite the impact of the recent floods and cyclone Yasi."
The nation's lowest-paid workers received a $26-a-week pay rise last year after a wage freeze in 2009.
Jobs Minister Chris Evans said $19.40 a week would make "a real difference" to the lives of low-income workers.
The federal government has welcomed the independent umpire's decision as economically responsible while putting more money in the pockets of 1.36 million Australians.
Fair Work Australia (FWA) on Friday announced the minimum wage would rise to $589.30 a week, from $569.90, from July 1.
ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence said it was a welcome increase that would maintain real income for minimum-wage workers but it did not go far enough.
"The reality is, this increase is still below what other workers have been getting," Mr Lawrence said.
Rises in the cost of petrol, power and other government charges were impacting on the low-paid more significantly than on other workers, he said.
The ACTU had proposed a weekly rise of $28, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had argued such a rise would prompt businesses to cut working hours and put pressure on inflation.
The key business lobby group had proposed an increase of $9.50 a week.
United Voice, the union representing cleaners and other low-paid workers, described the minimum wage as a "prison sentence" and said the pay increase would come as cold comfort to low-paid workers.
The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the decision, while striking a balance between union and employer claims, would likely create hardship for small to medium-sized businesses.
"Some businesses may find that this blows their labour costs out to the point where they may have to shed staff," the chamber's manager of workplace relations policy Alexandra Marriott said.
Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan said the wage rise was likely to flow into price increases.
Fair Work Australia said many businesses were facing a tough time after the summer of natural disasters.
But FWA president Justice Geoffrey Giudice said the tribunal would not defer the date at which the increase in the minimum wage would come into effect, despite a number of parties seeking a delay.
"We are conscious of the hardship which has been inflicted on many businesses, particularly small businesses, by recent natural disasters in many parts of Australia," Justice Giudice said.
"In the 12 months since the last review, Australia's economy has continued to perform strongly despite the impact of the recent floods and cyclone Yasi."
The nation's lowest-paid workers received a $26-a-week pay rise last year after a wage freeze in 2009.
Jobs Minister Chris Evans said $19.40 a week would make "a real difference" to the lives of low-income workers.
