Business groups criticised theArbitration Commission's national wage case decision announced
earlier but the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) gave
it qualified approval.
    As earlier reported, the commission awarded a 10 dlr a week
flat rise plus the opportunity for unions to bargain
immediately for extra payments of up to four pct based on the
new two-tier system which replaced wage indexation.
    "The decision is economically irresponsible and industrially
naive," said Bryan Noakes, director-general of the Confederation
of Australian Industry's industrial council.
