Key Points
- Katy left the hospitality industry due to low pay.
- Wages in the industry have not kept up with the cost of living, she says.
- While workers want a wage increase, some businesses say they can't afford it.
Katy Fitzgerald is reluctantly leaving the hospitality industry after 12 years.
She said wages in the industry have not kept up with the cost of living in Sydney and that she's finding it much harder to save even though her pay has gone up.
“I think back when I left school, I could work 35/40 hours in hospo (hospitality) and live a comfortable life with a bit of disposable income and still be able to save to travel or save for whatever I needed to, " she told SBS News.
“But now I don’t think it’s very viable to save and have money to go out with friends or buy tickets to events."
She said her groceries, parking, petrol and rent have all gone up significantly and it’s not sustainable for her to keep working in the industry she knows and loves. She has worked in restaurants and more recently in cafes.
“It’s one or the other. You either miss out on things and save some money, or go out with friends and live pay cheque to pay cheque.”
“I’m now transitioning into house-keeping because I can earn a better wage but if hospo wages were higher I’d stay,” she said.
The federal government has recognised the challenges for what it calls ‘lower-paid workers’ and is backing a wage boost.
Employment Minister Tony Burke. The federal government wants people in lower-paid jobs to not "go backwards" amid high inflation. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
He said the cost of living pressures were having the greatest impact on low-paid workers because they relied more heavily on their incomes to pay for general expenses.
"It's like when you're trying to chase a bus and the bus is going faster than you can run, and as bills are coming in, people's wages just aren't keeping pace," he said.
"And we want to make sure that those low-paid workers are able to catch up, effectively getting them back onto the bus."
Few are arguing against an increase in light of painfully , which clocked an annual growth of 6.8 per cent at the last official count, but the Opposition and business groups have said a lack of moderation would risk inflation staying higher for longer.
Last year, Labor roughly in line with inflation, which at that point had already started to track upwards sharply.
The Fair Work Commission ultimately landed on a 5.2 per cent pay increase, .
Mr Burke said the government's submission did not include a specific figure because inflation levels were expected to move ahead of the final wage decision mid-year.
Last year, the Fair Work Commission landed on a 5.2 per cent pay increase, bolstering low-wage workers' wages by $40 a week. Source: SBS News
"We're already running things as tightly as possible and when you're dealing with 50 staff at the brewery and out on the road it will add up to a lot of money.
Mr Harvey said customer spending has been down in the past 12 months as a result of everyone feeling economic pressure.
"I can't point to any supply costs that aren't going up massively for us, particularly utilities and grain.
"Our grain suppliers have held off on rising prices for a little while now, but what's going on over in Europe, and with production in Ukraine has really started to catch up on the local trade, in the sense that there's a lot more demand for food, or for grain all around the world," he said.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says cost pressures weighing on small businesses should also be factored into the wage decision.
The business group is backing a 3.5 per cent boost plus the 0.5 per cent lift in the superannuation guarantee starting from 1 July - its highest proposal ever in a submission to the annual wage review.
Peak union group to minimum and award wages, says excessive company profits - not wages - are fuelling price inflation.
-With reporting by AAP
