Wages have been frozen, or gone backwards, for over 10 years now. And with the cost of living getting higher and higher, millions of working people are not able to keep up. To fix the wages crisis, Australia needs updated work and bargaining laws.
Why is this important? Wages are falling behind for millions of workers. This is not just because of the pandemic, but has been happening over a decade. Complicated and outdated work laws that were written thirty years ago are now preventing workers from being able to bargain for decent wages and secure jobs.
Only 14% of workers are covered by a current enterprise agreement.
Industries that employ mainly women, like care or education, have some of the lowest wages and least number of enterprise agreements.
Workers who have the same jobs across employers or sectors should be able to come together to bargain for decent pay and similar conditions.
Unless we update work and bargaining laws, we can’t fix the wages crisis..
Work and workplaces have changed. We need work laws to suit now and the future. It just makes sense.
