Union disappointed with unchanged minimum wage
The Fair Pay Commission has made the “difficult” decision to leave the minimum wage unchanged.
Aged care workers have been “short-changed” by the Fair Pay Commission’s decision not to raise the minimum wage, according to the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF).
In a bid to protect jobs, the commission decided to leave the minimum wage unchanged at $543.78 per week. The minimum pay scale will also remain the same, at $14.31 per hour.
The commission’s chair, Professor Ian Harper described the decision as difficult.
“These are uncertain times for the economy and for the Australian labour market, and in the commission’s view caution is warranted at this time in the setting of minimum wages,” said Professor Harper.
“This is not the time to risk the jobs of low paid Australians by increasing minimum wages.”
But the ANF’s assistant federal secretary, Lee Thomas said the decision would disappoint nursing staff in the aged care sector.
“Our aged care nursing staff are among the lowest paid in the country – on average they are being paid up to $300 a week less than their colleagues in the public hospital system,” she said.
The ANF has nominated higher wages for aged care nursing staff as a major objective in its national ‘Because We Care’ campaign.
