Unions and employers at loggerheads over abolition of junior pay rates

More than half a million young workers could get a pay bump under a union plan to abolish junior pay rates, sparking warnings of job losses and claims of union overreach by industry groups.

Unions filed a “groundbreaking” application on Thursday asking the industrial relations watchdog to abolish “discriminatory” junior rates in retail, fast food, pharmacy and apprenticeship awards and pay the full adult rate for workers 18 and over.

Workers in those industries aged 20 and under are paid less than the full adult wage, with 20-year-old retail workers earning 90% of the adult wage for six months before they move onto the full wage.

About 526,000 workers in the retail and food sector across Australia on junior rates could see a lift in wages if the case is successful, with benefits expected to flow onto enterprise agreements.