Workplace Relations Minister Senator Murray Watt will weigh into a gender undervaluation award review case to make it clear the wages of affected workers must not go backwards, after the ASU warned proposed changes to the community and disability sector award might leave some workers up to $700 a week worse off.
A FWC full bench has axed an 11-year-old deal that excluded minimum engagement periods for casuals, finding that it must terminate agreements if their continued operation would be unfair to "any" rather than all covered employees.
The Ai Group has accused Labor of disregarding its re-empowered IR umpire by taking out of its hands decisions to remove or reduce award penalty rates.
Pharmacists will receive a 14.1% pay boost after a much-anticipated ruling by a FWC expert panel that scrutinised gender undervaluation, while employees under four other awards covering health professionals, disability services and daycare will have to wait for increases of up to 35% as questions of funding and new classifications are further investigated.
The ASU has welcomed an Albanese Government commitment "to support pay increases and better career pathways" for community and disability workers if re-elected, with Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt pledging funding for a workforce project to update the SCHADS Award.
A 9.2% increase to the national minimum wage and award wages would restore low-paid workers' buying power to pre-pandemic trends without significantly affecting inflation, according to research finding no consistent link between minimum wage rises and inflation since 1990.
The ACTU is calling for a 4.5% increase to the minimum wage, well above the current inflation rate of 2.4%, to lift the annual full-time rate by $2,143 to $49,770, while Victoria's Allan Government is making the same pitch as its federal Labor counterpart, calling for a real increase in the minimum wage.
Peak employer body ACCI has warned against the FWC handing down an "above inflation" rise in its upcoming Annual Wage Review, while at the same time arguing for "no more than 2.5%" when headline annual inflation currently stands at 2.4%.
Ahead of the May 3 poll, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is supporting a real pay increase in this year's minimum wage case, going further than his 2022 election call for the FWC to ensure workers' pay not "go backwards".
RAFFWU has asked a full Federal Court today to void the Woolworths "rotten SDA sellout deal" that it claimed stripped workers' rights, froze wages and cut conditions.
