
Issue No 52		05 May 2000

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Living Wage to Flow Through Fast

This week's higher than expected $15 Living Wage decision is likely to flow through to workers employed under NSW awards quickly, after a mirror claim was lodged in the NSW IRC this week.

The Commission will hear submissions on the rise in Wollongong on May 15 and May 16, where unions will argue the $15 a week increase should flow through to the 1.1 million workers employed under the state system.

Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says the decisions has been made not to go for the full $24 the ACTU sought because this would hold up any flow-on and was unlikely to succeed.

"We've been done that track before and spent a lot of time arguing for more than the federal decision and all we did was delay the pay rise," Costa says.

The federal increase of $15 will boost the minimum wage from $385.40 to $400.40. The ACTU argued for an increase of $24 when submissions were heard in March.

Over the past four years the ACTU, through its Living Wage claims, has secured total wage rises of $51 for low-paid workers despite opposition from employer groups and the Government.

Good result for ACTU

Meanwhile, ACTU secretary Greg Combet says the federal decision is a win for all low-paid workers, and would address the widening gap between award-dependent employees and those groups of workers who had achieved higher rates of pay.

"There are still far too many working people who are struggling to pay for the basics in life," Combet says.

"Casual and part-time workers, women, and people from non-English speaking backgrounds are among the lowest paid people in Australia - this rise will help them all.

"The decision supports the ACTU's argument on behalf of all low-paid Australians that the current minimum weekly wage of $385.40 is just not enough.

The decision also shows how out of touch the Government and employers are with the genuine needs of working people. The Government offered a miserly $8 increase, and the major employer group ACCI argued against any increase at all.

"Only the State Labor Governments supported the ACTU's case. It is only fair and reasonable that low-paid workers benefit from the fruits of economic growth - especially when company executives are receiving pay increases of up to 20 per cent.

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  Issue 52 contents

Interview: War Stories from the Shakey Isles
After being flat-earthed, New Zealand unions are making a comeback under a new progressive government. Darien Fenton is at the forefront of the resurgence.

Unions: Laying It On the Line
A complex international legal web underpins a long-running South Coast picket.

International: Alive and Kicking
Those representing right wing political forces and strategists for multi-national corporations would be disappointed by the success of the recently concluded Congress of the WFTU in Delhi.

Economics: Fair Trade not Free Trade
The successful MAI and Seattle campaigns have sparked a new debate about the role of the World Trade Organization.

History: The Manchester Movement
Manchester, in Asa Briggs memorable phrase, was the shock city of the early nineteenth century, a small and obscure market town that in a matter of a few years had become a huge city.

Satire: Passing the Buck
Government report tells bosses how to lie and pass the buck: Reith blames Kemp

Review: A Book to Set the Left Right
The Australian Finacial Review's Stephen Long gives his verdict on 'Tales from the new Shop Floor'.

» Conference Showdown Looms Over Stellar

» Olympics Pay Fight Hots Up

» Victims Compo Win for Workers

» Living Wage to Flow Through Fast

» Women Part-Timers Fight ANZ

» Clemo Fights for Wage Justice

» Community Workers Vote to Strike

» New Report: TV Casting Discriminatory

» Call for ACCC Prosecutions Over Japan Coal

» Sydney Support for Korean Workers and Arrested Officials

» Maternity Protection Goes Global

» Ten Years Hard Labor for Shaw

» Sydney CD's Head For Dili

» May One - Ground Zero

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Negotiation - Reith Style

» Propaganda or News?

» A Recipe for Modern Unionism

» Disappointed by May Day Coverage

» Politics in the Pub

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