Secure jobs and a fair share for workers is an economy that works for people

Workers form the backbone of a strong economy but despite the health growth of Australian economy, they are not seeing much of that wealth at all.  

In fact, profits have grown three times faster than wages, according to the paper ‘An economy that works for people’ from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).  

According to ACTU secretary Sally McManus, it’s simply unfair to workers. 

“Working people have suffered through nearly a decade of insecure work and stagnant wages, only now to be met with historically high inflation delivering massive real pay cuts,” McManus said.  

“Our top economic goal as a nation should be to give everyone the chance to get a secure and fairly paid job. This benefits everyone. That’s what we mean by full and secure employment.” 

A fair share for all workers

We’ve released this report because over the past decade, working people have suffered through a worsening insecure jobs crisis, stagnant wages and now a cost-of-living crisis. 
 
Corporate executives and conservative politicians like to pretend that everyday people shouldn’t interfere in economics, but the truth is that our top economic goal as a nation should be to give everyone the chance to get a secure and fairly paid job. 

Last week union members walked the halls of parliament house, talking to government MPs and senators about their experiences struggling with skyrocketing cost-of-living on low wages. 

Members like aged care worker Grace Gbala have been working multiple jobs to pay the bills. She would have to work around a hundred jobs to make anywhere near what the average CEO in Australia has reaped. 

The average Australian worker produced more than twice as much output with each hour of labour, than they were compensated in wages, salaries, and superannuation contributions, the ACTU report found. 

The report also cautioned against relying on productivity growth to deliver higher wages. Instead, it highlighted the importance of addressing the system, so workers are allowed to bargain for their fair share of the national wealth.  

“Achieving this will require more than fiddling around the edges, it requires new ways of thinking about how our system is managed, who benefits from it and how to change if for the better,” said Sally McManus.