It€™s time to revive the social wage: ACTU

AUSTRALIA needs to tackle rising inequality through the revival of the €˜€˜social wage€™€™, with a greater role for the federal government in health and education and in providing €˜€˜dignity in retirement€™€™.

Parental leave needs to be six months to pass

KEVIN RUDD will be forced to extend his paid parental leave scheme to six months if he wants it to have guaranteed passage through the Senate, a move that would cause the scheme to increase in cost by $400 million a year.

Commission has no truck with wage freeze argument

THE NSW Industrial Relations Commission has rejected an employer's attempt to use last week's minimum wage freeze by the Fair Pay Commission to argue its case in bargaining for a workplace agreement.

Land of the fair go fails to live up to its name

The Fair Pay Commission's minimum wage decision could claim a shred of soundness and would certainly be fairer if every other industry, political and professional group in the economy had voluntarily instituted a salary freeze during the economic downturn ("Minimum wage freeze causes union anger", July 8).

Trades Hall Backs Wage Increase For Low Earners

NEWCASTLE Trades Hall has said low-income earners should not be forced to pay the price of corporate greed, following warnings any rise in the minimum wage would be guided by the global economic crisis.

Before They Were Famous ...

Think Amy Adams' past career was funny? Once upon a time, our favourite celebrities weren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. Some put in the hours at fast-food outlets for minimum wage, others had the weirdest jobs imaginable.

Caution On Maternity Leave Plan

THE guardian of Australia's low-paid workers says the most vulnerable will miss out if the Federal Government adopts a ground-breaking paid maternity leave scheme tied to the minimum wage.

Low Wage Earners Happy To Have Jobs

PEOPLE paid the minimum wage are far happier than the unemployed and just as happy as many people who are paid more, research has shown.

Complications In Parental Leave Scheme Guarantee A Difficult Delivery

The Productivity Commission's proposed paid parental leave scheme allows for 18 weeks of leave at the minimum wage of $543.78 a week, or a total of $9,788. The scheme would be wholly funded by the Federal Government, but employers would have to contribute the corresponding superannuation guarantee amount.

Wage Rise May Fuel Inflation, Industry Warns

MORE than 1 million low-paid workers have received a surprisingly large boost to their pay packets in a minimum wage decision influenced by sharp increases in the cost of fuel, housing and food.

Foreign Students Being Exploited

NEARLY 60% of international students in Victoria could be receiving below minimum wage rates, a study by Monash and Melbourne university academics has revealed.

In A Word

Wage hypocrites How ironic it is for the Business Council to demand a doubling of the wages for certain employees (teachers) when the council continually reacts against pushes for a raise in the minimum wage of other employees.

A-league Players Kick A Goal After Finding Common Ground With Ffa

FOOTBALLERS playing in the A-League will now have access to increased injury, relocation and education allowances and a higher minimum wage after the announcement of a collective bargaining agreement between the players' union and Footballers Federation Australia.

Life's No Party On $300 A Week

LIVING on, or near, the minimum wage means a tough life of multiple jobs, long hours, empty fridges and budget crunching.

Pm Attacked Over Minimum Wage

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has been accused of thumbing his nose at Treasury advice to nominate a specific pay rise for low-paid workers, as business urged a $13-a-week increase - half the raise sought by unions.

At A Minimum, A Longstanding Feature Of Our Way Of Life

Gerard Henderson's understanding of the 1907 Harvester judgment delivered by Justice Henry Bournes Higgins, and its historical impact, is flawed ("Failed policy strong on sentiment", December 18). Higgins believed the best way to determine employment conditions was by bargaining between parties of equal strength. His objection to "the higgling of the market" was based on a reading that unskilled workers lacked such strength in dealings with employers. If there was no minimum wage, workers would ...

Us Low Wage To Talk About 'victims' Distress

THE ACTU hopes to showcase the worst of the capitalist system when it takes a group of American minimum wage workers on a national speaking tour of Australia next week.

Wage Rise Seen As No Economic Threat

THE increase in the minimum wage of Australia's lowest-paid workers for the second time in 10 months is not inflationary and will not prompt an interest rate rise, analysts say.

Protests Mount On Wage Rise

PRESSURE is mounting for an overhaul of tax and welfare rules in light of revelations that some families will pocket as little as $5 a week from the minimum wage decision.

Low-earner Families Robbed Of Wage Rise

SOME battling families will pocket just $5 a week from last week's minimum wage decision after tax and welfare payments are clawed back by the Government.