A Living Wage & Minimum Wage

Workers who are on enterprise agreements are paid 25% more than workers on awards or the minimum wage, according to new biennial Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. The latest data strongly confirms that unions are vital to ensuring working people get decent pay and conditions. The number of Australian…

Statement from Ged Kearney, President, ACTU: No Australian should be forced to live below the poverty line. For most people being unemployed is something they neither seek nor like to endure. But for many Australians, young and old, it is a harsh reality. Governments have a responsibility to help those…

Today’s dual ABS releases on Average Weekly Earnings and the snapshot Labour Force data show that Australian workers continue to be affected by a two-pronged dampener on their living standards. The ABS data reveals: While the headline unemployment figure fell 0.1% to 5.7% in July, this masks the continuing disturbing…

World leaders will meet for the September G20 Summit in Hangzhou China as growth in the global economy contracts and the wage share of national income continues to fall. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation said G20 leaders must support new principles on labour income share…

The Turnbull Government’s failure to strongly advocate to raise the minimum wage is a glaring and potentially costly omission, as the Fair Work Commission (FWC) today announced a $15.80 weekly increase for Australia’s lowest paid workers. While unions are respectful of the FWC process and welcome any rise in wages,…

Unions will today continue their fight for a $30 a week increase to the minimum wage at the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review. The Government and industry groups have continued their opposition to the increase. On the ABC’s Q&A panel on Monday night, Australia witnessed how out of touch…

The Australian unions are calling for a $30 a week increase in the minimum wage to $686.90 per week or $18.08 per hour. In its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review, the ACTU sees minimum wage levels which are still stubbornly low at 43.8 per cent of…

Around Australia this Easter weekend, millions will be taking a break and many will spend time with family and friends. Whether Easter itself means something religious or philosophical to you or not, everyone understands the importance of rest and spending time with loved ones. However, a very large number of…

The Australian tax system is tangled up in a web of subsidies, exemptions and arrangements that unfairly advantage the top 10 per cent of income earners, do nothing to drive innovation or productivity growth and hold us back from investing in nation-building. Capital gains tax exemptions, superannuation tax breaks, negative…

The wages of Australia's lowest paid workers will increase by $16 per week from 1 July as the annual wage review decision affecting 1.8 million award dependent workers comes into effect. This is the only chance for a pay rise for low paid workers and follows the Fair Work Commission's…