New analysis by the ACTU argues that the real agenda of the Commission of Audit's suggested changes to the national minimum wage is to reduce the pay safety net for 1.5 million workers who receive award minimum rates.
ACCI says the new safety net established by modern awards in 2010 cured any gender-based pay inequities, in a submission to the Fair Work Commission full bench that is hearing a bid by three unions to win equal remuneration for child care workers.
Private sector agreements approved in the December quarter provided average pay rises of 3.6% a year, slightly up on the 3.5% annual increase recorded in the September quarter, according to Department of Employment data released today.
In another chapter of a long-running case involving a botched attempt to lodge AWAs, a former company director will have the penalty for her role in short-changing 33 call centre workers reduced after the Federal Court cut in half the period in which she was liable as an accessory to her company's breaches.
Lower participation rates almost entirely due to ageing of population, says ACTU; AHRC seeking submissions on pregnancy discrimination; Subclass 457 visa data at odds with Labor Government claims; and SDA runs commercials in cinemas to support bid to remove junior rates.
