Seeking better work rights

• Steve Pierson
• 16 years ago
• Categories: wages, workers' rights
• Tags: unemployment

Seek has released analysis of the pay-rates offered by employers advertising on its site. It’s not a perfect measure and the figures are for the last quarter of 2007 but they still make illuminating reading.

The average salary rose from $55,583 to $57,664 in the quarter but low-skilled pay-rates went backwards. Kitchen staff from $29,625 to $28,831, waiting staff wages from $30,826 to $30,296 , caregivers from $31,967 to $30,894, shop assistants from $32,565 to $31,668 and cleaners from $31,964 to $31,704. Employers report they are offering lower pay because there are more workers available.

This confirms several important things:

• A full employment policy boosts wages.
• Employers will cut pay-rates if they can get workers cheaper.
• Vulnerable workers (all the job classes listed have low unionisation rates) are the first to suffer when the employment situation worsens. You don’t see workers in unions taking pay cuts.
• Raising the minimum wage acts as important constraint on employers forcing wages down. The pay in the jobs listed can’t drop too much because the minimum full time wage is now $25,000, up from $16,000 under National. The minimum wage not only sets a bottom limit for the worst paid jobs, it also has a halo effect on pay for the next tier of low-skilled jobs.

To protect vulnerable workers’ pay and conditions we need work rights to be enhanced, not undermined.