Pay rises in private sector agreements approved in the June quarter reached 3% for the first time in 18 months, despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Attorney-General's Department data bedevilled by an inability to quantify increases for 76,000 workers.
Bargained private sector wage rises recovered to near three-year highs in the March quarter, before they felt the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Attorney-General's Department.
Woolworths has agreed to pay more than 100,000 workers delayed increases contained in four of the group's agreements, after the SDA agreed to withdraw legal proceedings commenced this week.
The coronavirus pandemic has cut growth in the Wage Price Index in the private sector to the lowest level in its 23-year history, the ABS has confirmed today.
Today's Federal Government economic and fiscal update forecasts record low wages growth of 1.25% in 2020-21 due to the recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FWC will today hold its final hearing in this year's minimum wage review, in which employers and unions are divided over whether the domestic economy has started to recover from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
The NSW Government has taken off the table its offer of a $1000 "bonus" and job guarantee in lieu of a pay rise for frontline public servants, as it pursues the freeze in the NSW IRC, following a disallowance motion in the Upper House.
Unions are still in the dark about which NSW public servants would qualify for a $1000 frontline worker 'bonus' in lieu of a pay rise, while a health union has asked the State Treasurer to ditch a 2.5% wages cap before it puts the offer to members.
The NSW Government has imposed a 12-month wage freeze on its 408,000-strong public sector workforce, but has provided a job security guarantee for the same period.
Large numbers of retail employees covered by agreements approved in the second half of last year face wage freezes if employers succeed in their campaign for a coronavirus-driven pause in minimum pay rises such as that adopted during the GFC, new Attorney-General's Department data on bargained wage rises reveals.
