Victoria's Andrews Labor Government is calling for an increase of at least the CPI - currently 3.5% - to the federal minimum wage and all modern award rates on the basis that consumer price inflation movements mean anything less would be a pay cut.
A large employer organisation has called for the FWC to award minimum pay rises of 2.5% to 3% to help maintain living standards amid rising inflation, albeit with pay rises delayed for industries hardest hit by the pandemic.
The ACTU will pursue a 5% increase across all award rates in this year's minimum wage review, arguing it is needed to compensate workers for cost of living pressures.
Women are half as likely as men to engage in digital platform work and earn between 10% and 37% less when they do so, according to a Victorian Government-commissioned report that will inform State-based standards for the gig economy.
The NSWNMA has in announcing public sector nurses will go ahead with a second strike on Thursday accused the State Government of failing to maintain an open dialogue on its claims for boosted staffing ratios and a "modest" 4.75% pay rise.
In a potential signal ahead of this year's annual wage review, New Zealand will next month raise its minimum wage by 6% on the back of higher-than-expected inflation.
An FWC full bench has today acceded to the NT Government's request to overturn the approval of its main public sector agreement that covers 13,000 employees, after it lodged the wrong version of the deal with the tribunal.
Qantas will grant 1000 share rights to 20,000 employees, who endured 18-month stand-downs and are subject to two-year wage freezes, but the TWU says its forecast rapid post-pandemic recovery shows the airline's' "illegal outsourcing and attacks on workers under the cover of covid" were unwarranted.
Private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses increased by 2.4% annually in the December quarter, unchanged from the September quarter, but accelerated slightly over the last three months of the year, according to the ABS.
Employers have succeeded in winning a short delay to the introduction of a minimum wage guarantee in the horticulture award after a FWC bench accepted they needed time to revise their payroll systems and recruitment practices.