A truly Minimum wage increase
The Australian Fair Pay Commission released its July 2007 wage decision (which will come into effect in October 2007). The summary of the decision can be viewed here. The Commission increased the federal minimum wage by a princely amount of 27 cents an hour for the workers on pay scales under $700 per week and by an even more "generous" 14 cents an hour for workers on pay scales over $700 per week. These increases add up to an extra $10.26 per week and $5.30 per week respectively, before tax.
For a worker on the minimum wage of $522.12 per week, this amounts to an increase of 2%. For a worker on a pay scale just under $700 per week, the increase is 1.5% and for a worker on a pay scale of above $700, the increase is less than 0.76%. When you consider that the inflation rate is 2.4% and that the Commission will not issue another decision for a year, the lowest paid employees are sliding backwards - prices are increasing faster than their pay rates. At the time when the government attempts to dazzle us all with talk of economic prosperity, its dividends are not being shared equally - the poor are becoming poorer.
Let's compare this wage "increase" with the 6.7% increase scored by federal politicians some three weeks earlier. The same people who created a system that gives workers a pay rise less than the inflation rate obviously need considerably greater increases in their pay packets.
And if any further proof is needed that the minimum wage increase is a measly fob-off to ordinary workers - that proof is delivered by industry representatives' comments on the decision. When the ACCI and various industry bodies describe a wage increase as "moderate" or "fair and responsible", you know that the workers have been given a raw deal.
Thanks for reading.
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