Australia's lowest paid workers are set to earn an extra $13 a week, but one cleaner says the extra cash won't even be enough to buy a bag of dog food.
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The national minimum wage will increase by 1.75 per cent to $753.80 per week, the Fair Work Commission revealed on Friday.
The change will be phased in from July 1, with frontline services personnel who have continued working during the coronavirus pandemic the first to get the boost.
The increase is well short of the four per cent rise the peak union body fought for, but business groups had argued the wage shouldn't rise at all until mid-2021, to help businesses employ more people.
Melbourne cleaner Sofia Floros will be among the first to get the pay rise.
But with her husband recently losing his job, she doesn't expect it will make a dint in their financial situation.
"It's nothing for us. You can't even get a bag of dog food," she told reporters at the ACTU's headquarters on Friday.
"We work very hard and it's very low pay. We need to do something about it."
She said people who say low-paid workers don't deserve more cash should try to live off the minimum wage.
"We've got mortgages, we've got bills, groceries. We have to go get veggies," she said.
"We are invisible people, invisible. Nobody can see the cleaners, and a lot of other people."
Wendy Ibrahim, who has worked at General Pants for the past five years, said she was happy a pay rise is on the way, but disappointed retail workers won't get it until February.
The delay means the 22-year-old student won't get the extra cash during the busy Christmas period.
"I usually rely on my hours during November and December to get most of my pay, to pay off during February and January ... I don't get many hours then," she said.
Australian Associated Press
