Bargained wage rises in the private sector dropped to 2.7% a year in the September quarter, according to newly-released Attorney-General's Department data that also shows some large retail employers are starting to tie increases to the FWC's annual review.
An FWC-commissioned study probing the characteristics of low-paid award-reliant workers and their propensity to move to a better paying job has suggested that policymakers need to focus on helping older, less-educated employees to obtain higher incomes.
Workers' wages will continue to grow at about 2.2%, similar to the current WPI, partly because the forthcoming 0.5 percentage point rise in compulsory super payments will be mostly funded by forgone pay rises, according to the RBA.
The Fair Work Commission has granted award-reliant workers a 3% increase, lifting the national minimum wage by $21.60 a week or 57 cents an hour in this year's annual wage review ruling.
The FWC should pay heed to headline inflation running at 1.3% when awarding this year's minimum wage increase, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Federal Opposition will tell the FWC in a submission today that it no longer has confidence that the minimum wage framework can provide the increases needed by the lowest paid and that its "periodic assessments" to examine the minimum wage relative to the median wage have failed to deliver.
The ACTU will today unveil a claim for a 6% increase in the national minimum wage, which would translate to an extra $43 a week for Australia's lowest-paid workers.
