Retailers warn of job cuts after Fair Work Commission lifts minimum wage by $18.70 per week Retailers have warned that staff will have to be sacked in the wake of a decision to raise the minimum wage by $18.70 a week. Unions, however, say the increase of 3 per cent from July 1 - a rise to $640.90 per week - will not be enough to help workers cope with extra costs stemming from the federal budget. The decision by the nations industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), will directly affect around 1.5 million Australians on award wages. FWC president Justice Iain Ross said there had recently been almost no growth in the real value of award wages while other employees had enjoyed substantial pay increases. The deterioration in the relative living standards of award-reliant workers, the needs of the low-paid, the recent widespread improvement in labor productivity growth, the historically low levels of real unit labor costs, and the absence, in aggregate, of cost pressures from the labour market, are all factors favouring a real increase in minimum wages, he said. One moderating factor was the 0.25 per cent increase to the superannuation rate to apply from July 1. abc.net.au/news/2014-06-04/fair-work-commission-hands-down-minimum-wage-decision/5499494
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 10:55:38 +0000
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