Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

AIRC’s Safety Net Review Decision - Victoria to lag behind in wage rises

Victorian workers’ who rely on the AIRC’s Annual Safety Net Review of Minimum Wages will have to wait until 1 August 2005 for their Safety Net Increase.

“The AIRC has today penalised Victorian Workers’ who have consistently relied on annual safety net increases in May each year. Workers’ around Australia will enjoy the benefits of the Safety Net Increase 2 months ahead of Victorian workers’”, said Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) Assistant Secretary Nathan Niven.

Mr Niven said, “The AIRC has provided relief to Victorian Employers’ creating a wages lag in Victoria, said Mr Niven. “The effect of this is to penalise the vast majority of Victorian employees’ who continued to be regulated by Federal Awards while the Victorian IR system was chopped up by Liberal State Governments. These workers’ don’t deserve having to wait an additional 2 months for their wage rise,” said Nathan Niven.

“Some 400,000 Victorian Workers’ have this year gained improved conditions through the introduction of Common Rule Awards, and these Awards have made a significant difference to those workers’, and it is therefore completely unnecessary and economically undesirable to create a wages lag in Victoria, said Mr Niven.

“If this is the last Safety Net Review of Wages conducted by the AIRC it is to be hoped that the wages lag created by this decision for Victoria is not perpetuated beyond 2005,” said Nathan Niven.

“The $17 per week increase is a fair outcome and one that should not be delayed in its affect in Victoria. It is Victorian Workers’ who deserve some relief, said Nathan Niven, not the employers who enjoyed a system tilted in their favour.”

For further information, please contact:  
Nathan Niven, Assistant Secretary 9662 3673 or 0409 441 673



 


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