Wage increases in private sector collective agreements have dropped in the first year of Work Choices from 4% a year to 3.5%, despite unemployment reaching near-record lows and a booming economy.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd could face months of further embarrassment over his wife's company's award compliance, after the Office of Workplace Services yesterday detailed a two-stage investigation process.
The Howard Government will provide $370m in extra funding for administration and enforcement of the safety net changes introduced into Parliament today, including more than $100m in the next financial year.
Labor's proposed Fair Work Australia would be obliged to review minimum wage rates annually, in time for a July 1 rise, and Federal Treasury would be required to inform the new body about the likely economic effects of adjusting minimum rates, if a Rudd Government takes power at this year's election.
A Rudd Labor Government would bring back the worst features of centralised wage-fixing, Prime Minister John Howard warned the Queensland Media Club yesterday, while Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson proposed a raft of new measures, including payroll tax harmonisation, to lift Australia's flagging labour productivity growth.
The Bracks Government's use of its purchasing power to regulate labour standards of contract cleaning contractors has provided a model with "enormous potential" for expansion beyond services purchases into other areas of government procurement, including goods, according to a university study.
