Union win on minimum wage

The ACTU wanted $30 a week for about one-and-a-half million workers who rely on award pay rates.

The major employer groups wanted something in the region of $12 to $14.

The Fair Pay Commission delivered $27.36 a week, for workers earning a weekly wage of up to $700, just shy of the ACTU claim. It granted a rise of $22.04 to workers above this level and that equals a sizeable pay rise well above inflation for workers on the Federal Minimum Wage.

The unanimous decision by the commission is broadly in line with previous AIRC decisions on minimum pay and has angered the big employer lobbies.

The decision shows once again that the Howard government is becoming scared that it's draconian IR laws will see it booted out at the next election.

The coalition has discovered that the IR laws and the job insecurity they produce has made them unelectable at State level. They now fear the same voter backlash will hit them federally with only a year to go before the election.

Howard gave his game away when he described the decision of his hand picked commission as "a work of genious". Clear the decks, here comes an election!