Thousands of Aussie workers see wage increases triple as a result of inflation

Aussies have been hit with price increases everywhere from groceries to petrol, but skyrocketing inflation is good news for thousands of people.

There was a ripple of alarm throughout Australia when it was revealed that inflation had soared to a massive 6.1 per cent annually, but an unlikely group are set to score big from the huge jump.

Thousands workers who had their pay tied to inflation figures under union agreements are set to rake in much more annually.

Engineering and technical workers employed by contractor Applus, who work at oil and gas company Woodside on its operations in Western Australia, are set to rake in a whopping 7 per cent pay rise.

The workers had struck an agreement to increase their wages by 2.5 per cent or by the Western Australian Consumer Price Index if it was higher.

In Perth, inflation soared to 7.4 per cent, according to the June quarter – the highest across all of Australia’s capital cities.

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Workers who have a union agreement have won big on rising inflation. Picture: Getty Images

The Offshore Alliance union told workers that their “blood, sweat and tears” had paid off after they undertook 75 days of industrial action to replace individual contracts with union agreements.

In the transport industry, thousands of workers from Global Express and Australia Post-owned Startrack, which has about 3000 employees, had their wage rises linked to inflation, meaning the slated 3.5 per cent increase would now hit 6.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, food company Teys has seen its Queensland meat workers pay bumped up by 6 per cent already as wage rises were linked to Brisbane’s inflation rise from the March quarter.

Other employees around Teys’ state operations saw pay rises of 4.4 per cent in NSW and 4.7 per cent in South Australia.

However, wage rises linked to inflation are unusual and most Aussies face a real pay cut.

President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Michele O'Neil. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil said there was an urgent need for employees wages to rise as the cost of living bites.

“Working Australians are receiving huge pay cuts in real terms, while big businesses are lining their pockets with record-high profits,” she told the Australian Financial Review.

“We can’t expect Australians to spend their hard-earned money on discretionary items if they can barely afford the necessities. We need fair and equitable wages and we need them now.”

But with unemployment at a historic low, management consultancy ASPL Group CEO Kris Grant said some employers can expect greater difficulty in attracting staff and filling vacant positions over the second half of the year, putting upward pressure on wage costs.

Skills shortages will drive up wages in some industries. Picture: Getty Images

Ms Grant added rising job advertisements will continue over the rest of 2022 amid labour shortages.

“The nationwide skills shortage is likely to worsen as there are simply not enough workers to fill roles that are being advertised. This could push up annual wages growth towards 5 per cent, though in some sectors like IT and financial services wages pressures are greater,” she said.

“Some of the greatest difficulties employers are having are attracting university graduates to their workplaces, especially public sector employers.

“We are seeing university graduates being offered higher wages in the private sector than the public sector so they are bypassing government roles.”