Australia’s lowest workers will receive a $ 40-a-week pay rise from July 1 after the industrial arbitrator raised the national minimum wage by 5.2%, the highest increase since 2006, in a decision praised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The biggest drop in real wages since the GST highlighted the importance of cost-of-living pressures in the election campaign. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Some 180,000 people will see their hourly rate increase to $ 21.38 an hour as of July 1 as a result of Wednesday’s decision by the Fair Work Commission. It equates to a $ 40 weekly salary increase and brings the weekly minimum wage to $ 812.60.
At a news conference in Gladstone, Queensland, Albanese said the decision “would make a difference for people struggling with the cost of living.”
“Many of those who earn the minimum wage are the heroes of the pandemic. These workers deserve more than our gratitude. They deserve a raise, and today they have it,” he said.
Fair Labor Commission Chairman Iain Ross said rising inflationary pressures were key to the commission’s decision, adding that “the current circumstances warrant an approach that gives a higher level of support for the lowest paid “while seeking to contain inflationary pressures.
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“Total inflation is now expected to reach around 6% in the second half of this year, driven in part by rising petrol prices and sharp increases in the cost of new homes,” Ross said. .
Treasurer Jim Chalmers told social media that he praised the decision “to raise the minimum wage by 5.2 per cent so that low-paid workers in Australia do not back down, in line with the government’s presentation … “.
Australian Trade Union Council Secretary Sally McManus, who called for a 5.5% pay rise, praised the increase “and the fact that the trade union movement has fought so hard to achieve this”, but said which will continue to be a difficult year ahead. for workers.