Rights at Work: Minimum Wage

Your Rights at Work - April Newsletter

It's becoming clear that 2011 will be another tumultuous year - and Australian unions are determined to ensure working Australians, their families and their communities are represented.

Unions are working on a big agenda around secure jobs, climate change, workplace rights, and an equitable economy, which we will pursue as an independent movement on behalf of our members and all Australian workers in workplaces, in the political arena, and in the community.

In this month's newsletter we cover:

• Minimum Wages Case
• Securing Jobs
• Every Australian Counts
• Climate Change and Jobs and
• Union Awards Night
• Minimum Wages Case 
• We often hear about how well Australia's economy is faring compared to the rest of the developed world. We're riding the back of a resources boom but the truth is there are hundreds of thousands of workers who are not sharing in this wealth.

They struggle day-to-day and week-to-week. These are people who are working jobs with little security of employment and on minimum wages. We all have a shared responsibility to ensure that the low-paid are not left behind.

This year, the ACTU has lodged a claim for a wage rise of $28 a week for Australia's lowest paid workers - and 4.2% for the majority of award-dependent employees.

The outcome of this year's minimum wages case will, as always, be determined by the industrial relations tribunal, Fair Work Australia.

But we want to share the experiences of a few workers who are dependent on award minimum wages, telling us just how much they struggle to make ends meet, plan for the future or have money for possible emergencies.  They speak about how difficult it is when prices go up or unexpected expenses come in.

Without the unions' minimum wage case, the low-paid will just fall further and further behind. This is not about welfare, it is recognition that Australia's low-paid and award workers need greater financial security. What we are seeking will help bridge a gap that has become too wide.


Read more about our Minimum Wages Case.