PM John Howard's proposed industrial relations "reforms" include changing the way minimum wages are set to keep them low.
- The government wants to replace the Australian Industrial Relation Commission's role in setting the minimum wage with a new body appointed by the government (composed of people who the government trusts will ensure wages stay low).
- The minimum wage is currently $484 a week ($12.75 per hour); if Howard gets his way, minimum wage workers will be at least $50 a week ($2,600 a year) worse off.
- The Howard government has opposed every minimum wage increase since 1996.
- When asked to guarantee that minimum wages won't be lower under a new system, the federal IR minister, Kevin Andrews, told ABC radio on April 12: "I am not in the business of giving guarantees for or against anything."
- The government's proposal is similar to the US model, where the minimum wage is just US$5.15 an hour and hasn't increased for eight years, leaving many working families living below the poverty line.
[Source: <http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights>.]