Just in from the Fair Work Commission (FWC):
Key points:
- FWC has announced a rise to the national minimum wage of $13 per week or an increase of 1.75%.
- Under the changes, full-time workers on minimum wage will earn $753.80 a week or $19.84 per hour.
- President Iain Ross said making “no increase” to wages would “amount to a real wage cut” based on data there had been an “increase in the proportion of low-paid income households”.
- At the same time, Ross argued it would be a failure of the commission not to consider the post-coronavirus economic climate and bow to union demands of a four per cent increase.
- “The shock to the labour market warrants more weight being given to the potential impact of increasing minimum wages on hiring and re-employment,” Ross said.
- “Awarding an increase of the size proposed by the ACTU would pose a real risk of disemployment and of adversely affecting the employment opportunities of the low-skilled and young workers.”