Union Win - 2.5% increase for minimum wage and award workers

Unions have won a 2.5 per cent pay increase for a quarter of all workers through the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage case.

This pay increase will raise the annual minimum wage to $40,175.20 and the minimum hourly rate to $20.33 and will flow through to employees who are award-dependent, lifting the wages of one in four workers. Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 25% casual loading.

For most minimum wage workers, the increase will come into effect from 1 July 2021. Disappointingly, theFair Work Commission has delayed the increase for some workers. The bulk of retail workers won’t receive the increase until 1 September 2021, while those in aviation, fitness, tourism and parts of retail, events and live performance won’t get the increase until 1 November 2021. 

Although unions were campaigning for a 3.5% increase to the minimum wage, the outcome delivered yesterday is still significantly higher than the amounts proposed by business and the Federal Government.

Wage growth has remained effectively stagnant for 8 years and more needs to be done to lift wage growth, which is essential to economic recovery.

Read ACTU media release here.