The first public policy changes to boost workers' power in more than 30 years - under the Albanese Government - have coincided with an increase in nominal and real wages and a rise in workers' share of the fruits of the economy, according to the Centre for Future Work's David Peetz.
JobKeeper-like wage subsidies should be part of a government's "toolkit" for future pandemics, but "blanket" early access to superannuation should be taken off the table, according to the independent inquiry into Australia's response to COVID-19.
The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association is at the pointy end of a bid for an intractable bargaining declaration to break an alleged "impasse" in negotiations on behalf of Qantas engineers in Tamworth, with the Flying Kangaroo and the union due to report back to the FWC this morning.
JobKeeper kept people in work and prevented widespread business failures during the coronavirus pandemic, but in future crises the Government should consider improvements, including a tiered wage subsidy, according to Treasury's evaluation of the landmark scheme.
The highly-orthodox IMF has told the RBA's annual research conference that it is "hard to find" recent wage-price spirals across advanced economies and that pay acceleration "should not be seen as a sign" that the corkscrew feared by the central bank "is taking hold", in a session in which new board member and former FWC president Iain Ross led discussion.
The FWC has held that resource giant South32 unfairly treated some workers it directed to isolate and get tested after identifying them as COVID-19 contacts, ordering it to recredit annual leave, deduct sick leave and pay them for other times as though they were at work.
Westpac is holding out a $1000 incentive to encourage employees to vote up its proposed agreement that promises a 4% rise in January for employees earning less than $95,000, when inflation is forecast to reach almost 8%, but the FSU says it should be increasing its base pay offer as the union pursues a 6% boost.
Qantas has secured new deals with freight pilots and unlicenced aircraft engineers but the threat of turmoil looms, with licensed engineers voting to stop work, ground crew considering it and the FAAA claiming domestic fight attendants are facing ultimatums.
BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott has called on business leaders to approach the upcoming jobs summit with a view to recreating a "high wage, high productivity" economy, describing the past decade as "the worst for growth in living standards since the Great Depression".
The FWC's minimum wage panel has given Prime Minister Anthony Albanese until Friday to lodge a submission to this year's annual wage review, but has asked him to keep it to 10 pages.
