Wages soar on major building projects as concerns flagged about residential housing targets

Tens of thousands of tradies on major projects will get wage hikes of about 20 per cent, amid rising concerns about industry costs and Big Build impacts — thanks to a plumbers’ pay deal.

Tens of thousands of tradies on major projects will get wage hikes worth about 20 per cent over four years, after a new pay deal for plumbers paved the way for sector-wide increases.

Victoria’s Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union recently inked enterprise agreements that deliver annual five per cent wage rises, or an extra $6500 for a basic 36-hour week.

The CFMEU is currently bedding down similar percentage hikes, with top tier builders and the union close to sealing a sector-wide or “pattern” agreement.

The generous increases come during a cost of living crisis, but also amid rising concerns about industry costs and the impact the Big Build has on trades for the residential housing sector.

Tradies on major projects will get wage hikes worth about 20 per cent.

The Property Council said there needed to be a “better balance” between demands on the construction capacity from large scale infrastructure projects and the need to build more homes.

But unapologetic unions say hiking wages by 5 per cent a year for their workers was necessary at a time when bread and milk prices were increasing by 8 per cent.

Registered plumbers on enterprise agreements, including workers on Big Build jobs, are now paid almost $2500 a week, which includes a $57-a-day travel allowance, and an annual base salary of about $130,000.

Workers would smash through the $150,000 mark by the time the last of the annual 5 per cent wage hikes comes through in 2027, while those working longer weeks with several hours of overtime would earn over $200,000 a year.

The deals set a template for other building sector unions including the militant CFMEU.

As revealed by the Herald Sun last month, the construction union’s industry-wide agreement — close to being inked — would see junior labourers and traffic controllers earn more than $120,000 a year for a 36-hour week.

Building industry unions have argued the cost of living chaos engulfing families makes the healthy hikes necessary, after wages growth slowed during the Covid-19 crisis that crippled the industry.

State secretary of the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union, Earl Setches, said the increases were affordable and deserved.

Plumbers work hard and deserve wage rises, says the union.

“The cost of living has gone through the roof, our industry works very hard and deserves a pay increase,” he said.

“If you think that the Victorian workforce would take anything less than five per cent when bread and milk is up eight per cent …”.

Andrew Lowcock, Victorian deputy executive director at the Property Council of Australia, said major projects had an impact on housing projects when it came to skills and costs, which would impact on the government’s target of 800,000 new homes built in a decade.

“The availability and cost of labour in construction is critical to the ability of our industry to deliver new homes in the numbers needed to address the affordability crisis gripping our community,” he said.

“Construction costs, including labour, often play a determining factor in the feasibility of projects and whether they go ahead.

“There needs to be a better balance achieved between the demands on the construction capacity of our State by large scale infrastructure projects and the critical need to boost construction of new homes.”