Vic: Victoria's low-paid workers win $18-a-week pay rise
By Charisse Ede
MELBOURNE, Aug 7 AAP - Victoria's lowest-paid workers will be $18-a-week better offfrom this Friday, after the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) grantedthem a wage increase.
The pay rise is $7 less than that sought by Victorian unions, which claimed the additionalincrease would compensate for a lack of federal award benefits such as leave loading andovertime.
But in an unprecedented move, the full bench of the AIRC acknowledged the Victorianworkers would remain worse off than federal award employees until the state and federalgovernments legislated to give all employees the same entitlements.
"We encourage the parties to continue to discuss and bring forward legislative proposalsto address the issues which have been identified in these proceedings," the commissionerssaid in their finding.
The AIRC in May granted Australia's lowest-paid workers on federal awards a record$18-a-week pay rise.
The commission said today it had decided to give Victorian workers employed under Schedule1A the same increase, considering factors such as worker needs, economic factors and theviews of employer groups.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Leigh Hubbard said the commission's decisionwas disappointing.
"These (Victorian) workers are hundreds and thousands of dollars worse off than federalaward workers, so you are not comparing apples with apples," he said.
"(The $25-a-week increase) would have at least compensated them in some small way."
Mr Hubbard welcomed the commission's call for legislative changes and said unions wouldkeep campaigning to gain the workers the same entitlements as federal award employees.
The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) workplace relationspolicy general manager David Gregory said today's wage increase was sensible.
"We think it's sensible that the commission has rejected the claims by Trades Hallfor increases over and above that (Federal Living Wage) amount," he said.
Mr Gregory disputed that there were 250,000 low-paid workers in Victoria.
"I think the commission itself has confirmed in this decision that whilst there area limited number of people on the base rate, there are certainly many that are over andabove that.
AAP ce/gfr/apm/sb
KEYWORD: WAGE VICTORIA NIGHTLEAD
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