BASIC WAGE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 36, 13 February 1933, Page 6

BASIC WAGE

FALL IN AUSTRALIA

LOWEST LEVEL FOR 13 YEARS •

(F»om "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, 2nd February. A further fall in the Federal basic wage will take effect immediately ai>a will bring the rate to the lowest level for 13 years. The latest figures' are based oa the return of the Commonwealth Statistician, who takes into account the cost of living figures, but as the cost of living on some centres is down to that, ruling before the war, t&e result is not surprising. All the same it is none the less welcome as far as the workers affected are concerned. Still, there is no talk of fight, for a fight just now.woufa be most inopportune.' The men..on the basic wage are evidently prepared to bow to the inevitable. i

The drop will bo Is a week in Sydney, Is 6d in Melbourne, Is in Brisbane -and Hobart, Is 6d in Perth, and 2s in. Adelaide, while the average for the 39 principal towns will be Is. 3d. The highest basic wage in Australia operated in September, 1920, when the average was about £4 13s. The average to-day is nearer £3 10s. Since September, 1920, the cost of living has been falling gradually, and there has not been a quarter without some reduction in one or more of the cities. Besides being reduced in ' accordance with the cost of living, there has been a cut in the basic wage, by order of the Federal Arbitration Court, of 10 per cent. ;.

The unions have claimed that the rerduetion in the basic wage Ifas not been .justified by falls in the prices of commodities, but the Statistician has -resented this statement, and has quoted the figures,,on which ,he has based_ his calculations. The utmost care is .taken in the collection of the, figures, and these show that;during the last quarter reductions had been general in practically all common household commodities and groceries. Although the householder might not have noticed much difference on. individual items, tlje cumulative effect over the whole requirements of the house had been fairly considerable. :\A '■•'■

Unionists on; the other hand point out that; the : worker ;is adversely affected by reason of the fact -that; in more _ prosperous times he entered :• into certain obligations which he. now found it most difficult to meet. No one' conia have foreseen the trend of--events, and the workers should be given more consideration from ••that point of view. Those who purchased homes and fnrnitnfe on the wage ' operating, say, - five years ago were now in an impossible position. The wage could not continue to be reduced every quarter indefinitely. There' must be a halt somewhere, otherwise the man in, work would be in no better a position than the man on the dole. That was an anomaly which no Government could permit. Gradually the standard of living in Australia was being reduced, and the result was not good for the country.