Australian Unions have today announced they will argue for a 5% increase to minimum wages in the Annual Wage Review. This would lift the minimum hourly rate to $21.35 and the minimum annual rate by $2008.76 to take it to $42,183.96.
One in four workers, or 2.67 million workers rely on the Annual Wage Review for their pay rise.
Australian Unions call on the Morrison Government to support pay increases for Australian workers as it is the most effective and important thing they could do to address cost of living pressures.
In this week’s federal budget, the Morrison Government projected another year of real wage cuts for Australian workers, with wage growth lagging behind projected inflation and the average worker receiving a real wage cut of $500 in the first six month of the year. An increase of 5% that Australian Unions will be arguing for is what is needed to get real wages growing and to avoid further pay cuts.
Australia has a cost-of-living crisis, with essentials such as housing, groceries, fuel, childcare and clothing increasing rapidly. Workers are struggling to keep up after a decade of record low wage growth under this Government. The one-off payments of Morrison’s federal budget will do nothing to generate the long-term, sustainable wage growth that workers need or stop the nation’s workforce suffering another year of real wage cuts.
“Scott Morrison can take immediate action to lift wages. He can support an immediate and meaningful increase to award minimum wage rates, which would precipitate wage action throughout the market. And that’s exactly what we’re calling on him to do.”
“People are struggling more than Morrison’s budget acknowledges. We have skyrocketing rates of underemployment and insecure work. We’re experiencing the highest ever rate of workers requiring more than one job to make ends meet. And the situation is worst in SA”
“The last decade of stagnant wage growth has shown that the Liberal Government’s strategies to lift wages have not worked.”
“We’re in a cost-of-living crisis. Scott Morrison must get over his small-government inclinations and use the power he has to meaningfully lift wages now.”
“Lifting award rates would raise the tide for all minimum wage dependent workers. 5% is a more than reasonable wage increase after years of suppressed wage growth. 5% would be an outcome good for workers and good for businesses; after all, the people spending the money are also the ones earning the wages.”
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