TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

(h/t Avedon)

This guy is academic who lives in Australia but I still find his numbers hard to believe but they are correct.

Fair Work, Fair Pay: Lessons From Australia
Monday, 26 December 2011 07:58
By Salvatore Babones,
Truthout | News Analysis

Across the Pacific in Australia, the national statutory minimum wage is $15.51 an hour in Australian dollars. Over the past three years, the Australian dollar has been roughly equal in value to the American dollar, so the figure in American dollars is about the same. One Australian dollar roughly equals one American dollar.

Only about 2 percent of Australians, however, are covered by the minimum wage. The rest are covered by industry-wide agreements that are negotiated by the government on behalf of workers. The minimum wage in most of these agreements (including, for example, for adult fast food workers) is $17.03 an hour.

Part-time and temp workers don't get these benefits. Instead, they get paid an extra 20 percent to 25 percent in cash compensation. As a result, a part-time, entry-level adult fast food worker in Australia makes a minimum of $21.25 an hour. Oh, plus health insurance. That's universal in Australia.

The unemployment rate in Australia today is 5.2 percent.