Victoria's Andrews Labor Government is calling for an increase of at least the CPI - currently 3.5% - to the federal minimum wage and all modern award rates on the basis that consumer price inflation movements mean anything less would be a pay cut.
A large employer organisation has called for the FWC to award minimum pay rises of 2.5% to 3% to help maintain living standards amid rising inflation, albeit with pay rises delayed for industries hardest hit by the pandemic.
The ACTU will pursue a 5% increase across all award rates in this year's minimum wage review, arguing it is needed to compensate workers for cost of living pressures.
Private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses increased by 2.4% annually in the December quarter, unchanged from the September quarter, but accelerated slightly over the last three months of the year, according to the ABS.
The FWC has warned employers that the "clock is ticking" for Work Choices "zombie" agreements in rebuffing a large employer's bid to keep a 2008 flat-rate deal operating until May or June, coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of its nominal expiry.
The TWU's in-principle three-year agreement with Australia Post subsidiary StarTrack will deliver annual wage rises that match CPI increases in the second and third years of the deal if inflation exceeds 3%.
The FWC's minimum wage panel has revealed that it is developing a consumer price index for low paid households and a budget of discretionary items required to participate in society, while one of its members says the pandemic will make that already difficult task even more complex.
A FWC full bench has held early childhood teachers should receive a pay rise of up to 13.6% from the start of next year as part of an IEU work value claim, after the union reached a consent position with some employers and others failed to back up affordability concerns.
Qantas has struck enterprise agreements covering about 450 regional pilots at Sunstate and Eastern, the first to be negotiated since it announced a two-year wage freeze in May as part of its COVID-19 recovery plan.
