David Jones has come to the bargaining table after a four-year hiatus.
The department store has signed an enterprise agreement with Australia's largest trade union SDA.
The deal will see David Jones employees receive a pay rise of 8.9 per cent over three years – with the first 3.8 per cent instalment backpaid to June 1.
The new three-year agreement, which is yet to be approved by Fair Work Australia, also marks the first time David Jones has cooperated with the SDA since the two made their first enterprise agreement in 2006. The 2006 agreement expired in February 2008.
Specifically, the wage negotiations detail a rise in the weekly
pay of shop assistants (covered by the level one pay classification),
from $688.50 before the agreement to $704, with rates to increase by
another $10 on July 1 2013.
Rates are set to increase again by
a further $12 on February 1, 2014, $10 on August 1, 2014, and $12
again on February 1, 2015, lifting pay to $748, four months ahead of
the agreement's scheduled expiry date.
Level two employees –
permanent employees in a range of positions including fashion
consultants and trained shoe fitters, will progress from $739.20 from
June 1 to $749.70 on July 1 next year.
Their wages will then
increase to $762.30 from February 1, 2014 to $772.80 from August 1
and $785.40 when the final increase is paid.
Supervisors in
stores and warehouses will move from $774.40 to $822.80, through
increments of $11 on July 1 next year; $13.20 from February 2014, $11
from August that year and a final $13.20 in February 2015.