Millions of workers will get a real pay rise next month after the fair work commission handed down its annual decision on the minimum wage and award agreements. The commission says businesses can afford the higher wage bill and it wanted to make up for workers sliding backwards over the past few years.
00:00William Seamans puts his life on the line as a security guard for a base wage of just over $1,000 a week.
00:10The industry does need a pay rise. A lot of people don't realise security officers, wherever we are, we're on the ward. That's our base.
00:17All industry awards and the minimum wage are going up by 3.5% in July.
00:23This inflationary episode is now over.
00:25This provides us with an opportunity to go at least some of the way towards correcting what has happened over the last four years by awarding a real increase.
00:35Fair Work's annual ruling gives the lowest paid workers an extra $0.85 an hour to just under $25, bringing the minimum wage up to $948 a week or $49,000 a year.
00:50It's a great outcome because it's 1.1% more than inflation.
00:55The union movement had lobbied for an increase of 4.5% while the government asked the commission for an economically sustainable real wage rise.
01:05This decision will not just help them get by but will start to help them get ahead.
01:11I think the commission could do better. We're dealing with the poorest 20% of the labour market. They only account for 10% of total labour costs.
01:19Business groups were lobbying for much less.
01:22Retail, hospitality, restaurants and cafes, they've been doing it tough. Many of those small businesses will really struggle to afford an increase of this magnitude.
01:32The commission says it's satisfied that businesses can handle this higher wage bill.
01:37It says that profits have been steady and that business conditions are likely to improve as lower interest rates boost spending power.
01:45These people aren't going to go out there and blow inflation. People on these wages will get maybe, you know, a McDonald's meal for their kids.
01:53With the interest rates, with this, it's a start.
01:55The ACTU wants an even bigger boost next year.
01:59The ACTU weighs 241.
02:01The ACTU wants an even bigger boost next year.
02:02The ACTU should be assembled each regionďż˝
02:17about one hundred.
02:19The ACTU pushes them yet.
02:20And I will make it all niego into one another.
