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A new national minimum wage affecting the pay of millions of Australians will be set today by the Fair Work Commission.
The Commission’s been considering submissions from government, unions, and employers and will hand down its decision in the next couple of hours.
It’s expected to lift the minimum wage by 3.5 per cent. The Australian Council of Trade Union’s Sally McManus says that wouldn’t be enough.
She wants to see it be lifted by 3.6 per cent but would be “really happy” if it has a 4 in front of it.
Here’s a bit of what she had to say to ABC News Breakfast.
“This is all about making sure people … keep up with the cost of living but a little bit more because they need to catch up,” she says.
“Got to remember people on the minimum wages, they’re the ones who are feeling it the most with cost-of-living pressures.
“One of the things that … some people argue is that … this weird wage price spiral idea which has been well and truly debunked over the last few years.
“Just because one group of workers get a pay rise, like, the lowest paid that that’s not going to automatically flow on to everyone else.
“We also know that every single year when the minimum wage increase happens, it has really no effect on inflation.”
