National minimum wage      :)

The national minimum wage is the minimum wage that applies to employees who aren’t covered by an award or agreement. It covers the whole national workplace relations system.

Most employees in the national workplace relations system are covered by an award.
National minimum wage for adults

Currently the full-time minimum wage is $16.37 per hour or $622.20 per week. This means that most employees in the national system shouldn't get less than this.

Casuals covered by the national minimum wage get an extra 24% ($20.30 per hour).

Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US...

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 6:36am:

Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US...

No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here?

Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr....

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 6:36am:

Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US...

Americas cost of living isnt as high and they dont pay as much tax - no yank would pay $5 for a banana

SOB

Kat wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 7:18am:

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr....

well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job...

just sayin...

wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 5:46am:

Currently the full-time minimum wage is $16.37 per hour or $622.20 per week. This means that most employees in the national system shouldn't get less than this.

FORTUNATELY, Tony Abbott has found a like mind to work with him on THAT "little annoyance"



Low-paid jobs are still paid too much, Abbott advisor says


Nov 21, 2013


Australia’s lowest-paid workers – including many working in disability care, aged care and other community jobs – are paid too much, according to a senior advisor to the Abbott Government.

Maurice Newman is the chairman of the Federal Government’s Business Advisory Council

The community sector – which is tasked with providing essential services to those who can’t otherwise afford them, including many working in low paid jobs – was quick to respond.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Tony Nicholson warned that Mr Newman might be "out of touch with the realities of a modern economy and society".

Mr Nicholson said "Homeless shelters in the US are “overflowing with full-time workers earning the minimum wage”

"After paying for rent in Melbourne or Sydney, living on Australia’s minimum wage of $622 a week leaves just $44 per day for food, transport and utilities"

"When their car breaks down, (low-income earners) have a choice of either fixing the car, which they rely on to get to work, (or) fall behind in the rent… which is the slippery slope to eviction."

People in crisis often turn to welfare agencies for emergency relief or postpone the crisis by using a payday lender.

St Vincent de Paul Society’s Dr John Falzon says he’s already seeing an increasing number of working people suffering financial stress.

"Lowering the minimum wage would only lead to more people with paid jobs relying on charity to survive from week to week"


http://www.ethicaljobs.com.au/blog/low-paid-jobs-are-still-paid-too-much-abbott-advisor-says





Perhaps you've heard the name BEFORE ?

( ... a WIN-WIN for Tony Abbott)


Maurice Newman is chairman of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council. He must have thought that December 31 was April Fool's Day when he wrote an opinion piece in The Australian headed "Crowds go cold on climate cost".

He once again revealed his opinions on climate change science when he wrote "the scientific delusion, the religion behind the climate crusade, is crumbling" and "Australia, too, has become hostage to climate change madness".

His piece is a mix of common climate change myths, misinformation and ideology. While Mr Newman is welcome to his opinions, his writing reveals his sad misunderstanding of the facts about climate change.



As Upton Sinclair wrote, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"


http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/maurice-newmans-flatearth-thinking-ignores-climate-change-facts-20140101-305h6.html#ixzz2ptiOQGzr

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 8:26pm:

Kat wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 7:18am: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr.... well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job... just sayin...

And hows that working for the US?

ian wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 10:02pm:

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 8:26pm: Kat wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 7:18am: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr.... well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job... just sayin... And hows that working for the US?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/made-in-the-usa-5-of-the-best-cars-made-here/

ian wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 10:02pm:

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 8:26pm: Kat wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 7:18am: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr.... well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job... just sayin... And hows that working for the US?

buzzanddidj wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 9:09pm:

The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Tony Nicholson warned that Mr Newman might be "out of touch with the realities of a modern economy and society". Mr Nicholson said "Homeless shelters in the US are “overflowing with full-time workers earning the minimum wage”

buzzanddidj wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 9:09pm:

The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Tony Nicholson warned that Mr Newman might be "out of touch with the realities of a modern economy and society". Mr Nicholson said "Homeless shelters in the US are “overflowing with full-time workers earning the minimum wage”

That's just wrong. Clearly the US minimum wage is not enough to live on. When 1% of USA citizens own 40% of the wealth and the working poor need to work almost every waking moment just to survive, that's a powder keg.

They've had minimum-wage workers on strike in the USA recently in an attempt to win a minimum wage of a more reasonable level. It could happen that there's a protracted general strike amongst minimum wage workers within a decade.

The fast food worker's revolution (ABC Online)

Quote:

Sick of being undervalued by their employers and mocked by their compatriots, America's low-wage workers are uniting to demand fair pay and respect, writes Ruby Hamad.

Quote:

As Christmas rolls inevitably towards us, thoughts turn to how we can cover the increased costs of food, presents, parties, and just generally make our pay cheques stretch that little bit further. Fortunately for America's low-wage workforce, mega-corporations such as Walmart and McDonald's are already on to it. Last month, a Walmart store in Ohio issued a Thanksgiving fundraising drive, urging employees to "collect canned foods for fellow Walmart employees in need." (Emphasis original). Walmart, which was recently named America's worst-paying employer, has attempted to pass this insult off as a heart-warming example of its employees caring for one another. Which is one way of deflecting attention from the cause of those employees' lesser fortunes - Walmart's loving embrace of the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Walmart is not alone in its sorry/not sorry approach to the fact that many of its workers live below the poverty line. Fast-food behemoth McDonald's attracted equal amounts disbelief and scorn in its recent attempt to dispense money-saving advice to its workforce. Employees were helpfully told they could make ends meet by getting a second job, not paying for heating, and applying for food stamps. Most gratingly, McDonald's cheerfully suggested workers could simply "sing away stress" because singing lowers blood pressure. For the record, McDonald's made a $1.5 billion profit in the US in the third quarter of 2013. Coincidentally, this is slightly higher than the $1.2 billion taxpayers shell out each year for public assistance ... for the McDonald's workforce. Are we sensing a theme here? Corporations are making billions on the backs of their workers, and leaving other Americans to pick up the slack. Unfazed by the public ridicule, McDonald's continued with its self-defeating advice in the form of "McResource Line", a website which includes Christmas-themed money-saving doozies such as "breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full" and suggesting employees sell unwanted gifts on eBay for some "quick cash". When all else fails, as it is bound to when you have to choose between feeding your kids and paying the rent, cash-strapped fast-food minions could enjoy the festive season if they "quit complaining", since complaining increases stress hormone levels. It is precisely this tone deafness on the part of McDonald's and similar meg-corporations, as well as their brazen indifference to the poverty their poor wages impose on their employees, that is driving what increasingly appears to be a low-paid workers revolution in the United States.

(continued)

Quote:

It all began last November when McDonald's workers in New York walked off the job on Black Friday, the immensely popular discount shopping day after Thanksgiving. In August of this year, New Yorkers were joined by fast food employees from other chains including Taco Bell in a mass walkout across 50 cities. With the strikes and protests now spreading to over 100 cities, what began with dissatisfied workers in a single store has turned into a fully-fledged movement called Fight for 15, as in for a minimum wage of $15 per hour. The protesting workers are aiming high. Critics argue that raising wages would lead to job losses, and president Barack Obama himself is hoping for an increase to just $9 per hour. But in an environment of rising food and housing costs, this still won't lift fast food workers out of poverty. America's unskilled fast-food workers are as marginalised as it is possible to be. Undervalued by their employers and mocked by their compatriots, who seem to conflate dislike of poverty with hatred of poor people, their dreams of a living wage is hindered by a widespread belief that being low-skilled means you should just "quit complaining" and be happy to have a job, any job. Of course, this antipathy is driven in no small part by a fear that a wage hike will drive prices up as corporations pass the costs on to consumers. However, these fears are unfounded. In Australia, where the minimum wage is $14.50 per hour and McDonald's pays $15 per hour, consumers pay $4.62 for a Big Mac, just five cents more than Americans who buy $4.56 burgers from workers making an average of just $7.75. Moreover, by McDonald's own admission, paying its workers $15 per hour would increase the cost of items on its famed Dollar Menu to just $1.25. It's hard to get this point - that a living wage for all Americans is surely worth a few extra cents for takeaway food - across in the US where the insistence that everyone has equality of opportunity has tainted society to the extent that poor people are blamed entirely for their predicament. Failure to overcome being born into poverty, with its associated educational and criminal disadvantages, is widely regarded as the fault of those affected by it, not the society that allows it to happen. After all, the thinking goes, if America is the land of opportunity and anyone can make it big, then being stuck in poverty must surely be a failure of you own character; if you are poor in the land of the free, it must be because you're just not working hard enough. The truth is, low-wage workers do work hard, often toiling at two or three jobs, for up to 70 hours a week, subsisting on just a few hours' sleep a night. And they still struggle just to make ends meet, let alone escape the tedium and exhaustion of endless poverty. And now, the fast food workers revolution has come full circle back to New York City where ultra-hip artisan bakery, Amy's Bread, has been charged with abusing and under-paying minimum-wage workers.  Buoyed by the rising protest movement across the country, employees have delivered a petition to the owners of Amy's Bread. Their demands? A living wage, health insurance, and - perhaps most audacious of all - respect.

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 6:36am:

Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US...

::) Who the ferk cares what it is in the US?

If you want wages to be on a par with the Yank pittance ... you be the first to renegotiate your next contract of employment accordingly.

The Yank system is dog eat dog exploitation.

That's why the poor bastards have to work 2 or more jobs & cadge tips to get by.

True Blue... wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 8:26pm:

Kat wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 7:18am: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr.... well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job... just sayin...

No you're not "just saying"

you're preaching this shyte all the time..... yet I know you wouldn't turn out for that money.

as for reducing welfare to give an incentive to get a job ....

all that will do is give them an incentive to assault you & take your wallet or break into you house & steal your stuff.

Don't think this minimum wage stuff applies to the ching chongs in Australia. They'll work for dog biscuits if they could.

True Blue... wrote on Jan 10^th, 2014 at 6:21am:

ian wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 10:02pm: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 8:26pm: Kat wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 7:18am: True Blue... wrote on Jan 9th, 2014 at 6:36am: Now tell me... what's the minimum wage in the US... No, you tell us... what does the MW in the US have to do with workers here? Unless you advocate dragging our MW down to $5/hr.... well it would make us more competitive in the manufacturing industry and create employment for the unskilled... mind  you... you'd have to drop welfare to lower rates than that so to give them incentive to get a job... just sayin... And hows that working for the US? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/made-in-the-usa-5-of-the-best-cars-made-here/

this isnt about being right TB...its about getting square... ;) ;)

they forget how long the min wage has been in for...seems its ok if its on labor watch... then all of a sudden.... ::) ::)

crook never puts his dates in does he..what a stirrer.