Enterprise agreements filed with the FWC in the fortnight to November 18 paid average annualised wage increases of 3.4%, substantially outpacing the 2.8% rises in DEWR's data for June quarter agreements but well below consumer price inflation of about 7%.
ABC employees' almost three-quarters majority rejection of a deal unilaterally offered by the public broadcaster edges them closer to ending a "business model of overwork, underpay and inequality", according to the MEAA, which together with the CPSU is seeking almost twice the organisation's 9.5% proposal.
As inflation continues to rise at about 7%, annual wage increases have dropped to just 2.2% in the latest fortnightly batch of "real-time" enterprise deals analysed by the FWC, due to health and welfare agreements paying an average of 2.1% a year.
More than 1,000 domestic cabin crew at Qantas have authorised protected action including 24-hour strikes and overtime bans in the lead-up to the busy pre-Christmas travel period, as their union resists the airline's push for longer rostered hours and to hold annual pay rises to 3% as inflation soars.
In a significant decision on the nature of work, the FWC has found that the nursing home at the centre of one of Queensland's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks should have paid employees for the time spent taking rapid antigen tests before the start of their shifts.
Enterprise agreements filed with the FWC in the fortnight to October 21 paid average annualised wage increases of 3.5%, substantially outpacing the 2.8% rises in DEWR's data for June quarter agreements but well below the 7.3% rate of consumer price inflation.
Agreements lodged with the FWC in the fortnight to September 9 delivered annual rises of just 2.4% – the lowest in the short history of the Commission's "real-time" bargained wage data – after education deals effectively paying 1.7% a year to more than 10,000 workers dragged down the average increase.
Private sector agreements approved by the FWC in the June quarter paid average annualised wage increases of 2.9%, lifting growth to the fastest pace in two years, but remaining at less than half of the CPI.
The FWC's new leading indicator of bargained wage rises - officially launched today - shows that deals lodged in the first half of last month paid an average increase of 3%, up on those in the most recent DEWR data.
