Pay awards 'match inflation'

Tuesday, 24 June 2003 12:00 AM

The Industrial Relations Services has reported that pay awards have been averaging 3% for five months.

Their survey studied the results of 100 pay deals, and found that half resulted in wage increases of between 2.5% and 3.5%.

Pay deals are being pressured by rising costs of living for workers and weak growth for many companies. The study suggests that pay is now matching inflation, but have not raised much further because of the faltering recovery of the economy.

But in a reversal of an historic trend, the survey indicates that the public sector is receiving consistently higher pay awards than the private sector.

Pay awards to public sector workers have been higher than those in the private sector for some time now, and this survey shows an average rise of 3.4% compared to a rise of 2.9% for private sector workers.

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