Average wage increases in private sector agreements approved in the September quarter have reached 3% a year for the first time since 2016, according to Jobs Department data released today.
The CPSU has expressed dismay after Bureau of Meteorology workers voted by a knife's edge to accept management's latest offer for a new agreement despite union opposition.
In a development that might fuel debate over the links between union power and wage rises, substantially above-average pay increases secured in the heavily-unionised construction sector have pushed bargained private sector wage rises off their recent historic low.
APS Commissioner John Lloyd denies that a new public sector bargaining policy contains an added push towards individual flexibility arrangements, but the CPSU says its "explicit encouragement" along with the extension of a 2% pay rise cap undermines bargaining, wages and conditions.
Woolworths has committed to working with the NUW to ensure that it complies with minimum labour and human rights standards in its fresh food supply chain, while it has also struck a new enterprise agreement for its Victorian warehouses that increases pay by 4% a year.
The TWU has won a 2.25% increase in employer superannuation contributions as part of an in-principle agreement on a new three-year deal at the Toll transport group.
Just a week after RBA Governor Philip Lowe called for workers to push for bigger wage rises, the FWC has approved a deal that secures increases of just 2% a year for his own 1000-strong workforce, but with the prospect, for some, of also winning performance-based bonuses.
AFL players will get an immediate 20% pay rise under a new $1.84 billion collective bargaining agreement that ties income to industry revenue for the first time.
The Australian Federal Police has hit back at claims its officers stand to lose up to 23% of their salary under a proposed agreement which the police union claims will leave all members worse off.
Expanding on its theme that the wages system is "broken", the ACTU will seek to change workplace laws so workers and unions can bargain "where the power is" across industries and franchised employers, rather than being limited to the enterprise level.
