The importance of recognizing a living wage is a reality check to the minimum wage legislated by government. I thought is a very good idea. It proves the government is reasonable in it's decisions.
February 29, 2016
By Simon Collins
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Woodhouse has announced that the minimum wage will go up on April 1 from $14.75 to $15.25 an hour, a 3.4 per cent rise which compares with a 2.1 per cent rise in the average wage in the past year.
But Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the increase was just "treading water".
"Increasing the minimum wage by $0.50 to $15.25 an hour, or $610 a week (which is what a 40 hour week gross earnings would be), is simply not enough to sustain a family on," he said.
"The minimum wage should be enough to take your family to the doctor, buy nutritious groceries, replace your washing machine if it breaks down. The minimum wage should be a wage you can live on, not just exist on.
"In 2009 working people were campaigning for a minimum wage of $15. It's taken seven years to get to $15.25. $15 was a fair minimum wage in 2009, it's not a fair wage in 2016."...
