ALP vows to tackle stagnant wages and underpayment of workers 

12 December 2018
Canberra Times
 

Tackling stagnant wages and the underpayment of workers through industrial relations reform has emerged as a key priority for a future Labor government.

Labor's employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor will tell the National Press Club of Australia on Wednesday that the government's approach to stagnant wages has been "to sit back and hope that the market delivers". 


"Labor acknowledges that the problem with wages is real, is complex and requires positive action from government," he says.

In a speech to be delivered ahead of ALP national conference this weekend, Mr O'Conner will focus on how the market is "not delivering, particularly for low and middle income earners".


"[A] Labor government will tackle the issues in the workplace relations system that are contributing to wage stagnation – the modern precariousness of work, widespread underpayment of workers, and declining collective bargaining," he says.

Mr O'Connor will say there were more than 1.6 million temporary visa holders with work rights in Australia who should not be used as "cheap labour". He says it was not surprising many Australians felt insecure in their jobs when work was being outsourced.

He says no worker on a skilled visa should be doing a job for a day longer than it takes to train an Australian worker. "Local workers should always be given the first shot at local jobs," he says.

Labor introduced the Fair Work Act in 2009 and the national union movement have called for it to be overhauled in favour of workers.

Mr O'Connor says the labour market had changed at a pace in ways which the ALP could not have predicted.

"As a result, many people’s experience of work is more precarious," he says.

Mr O'Connor says a casual worker of 12 years had told him she had no security of employment from one roster to the next, no security of income, and little power to change the situation.

"She also told me about her employer’s increasing use of labour hire – about how a harmonious workplace has turned fractious because workers doing the same job side by side are being paid different wages, and because fewer workers feel that they have any real connection with or input into the business they work for," he says.

"I remember the time when corporate employers used to give their employees bonuses at Christmas – to show them how much their contribution to the company was valued.

Mr O'Connor says larger employers and corporations were outsourcing their labour to smaller employers – through franchises, subsidiaries and related corporate entities, subcontracting, independent contracting and labour hire.

This meant it was less likely a worker was employed by the economic decision maker.

"Their wages are effectively set by the head of the chain, not by their direct employer," he says.

"It makes it harder for workers to collectively bargain, because although they may work at the same site or in the same business, it is not necessarily for the same employer.

"It can also set up a situation where the only point of competitive tension in the industry is the cost of labour."

Labor has committed to restoring penalty rates and ensuring they could not be cut again, stopping the use of labour hire by employers to undermine pay and conditions of direct employees and introducing a national labour hire licensing scheme. Labor would also introduce a new legal definition of casual, increased penalties for underpayment of wages and a tighter definition of sham contracting.

Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations Kelly O’Dwyer said during Labor’s time in office around one in eight manufacturing jobs disappeared.

"In contrast, under the Coalition, around 93,000 new jobs were created in the manufacturing industry over the last year alone," she said.

“Whilst Labor is focused on the jobs of union bosses, the government is focused on the jobs of Australian workers.

cods wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 6:41am:


Pay wall....Why do you continue to post links to a paywall site and give no information for other posters to comment....What a complete waste of time....It makes sense to some???

Its time wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 7:20am:

As is proven by their inability to distinguish facts, opinions and fiction.

cods wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 10:20am:


How can anyone comment on something that is hidden behind a pay wall....Do you know how to copy and paste the crap you want others to read or is that to difficult for you....Why bother???

philperth2010 wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 11:19am:



I sure do... but you mostly attack the messenger  so why would anyone bother..

of course if you asked nicely....

but that never happens.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 12:19pm:


Careful, you're tottering on the edge of the abyss of supporting your fellow man...

Productivity would improve massively if we got rid of CEOs and such - all the strap-hangers...

Laugh till you cry wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 12:19pm:

Then why are businesses making healthy profits?

Bam wrote on Dec 12^th, 2018 at 9:05pm:


Don't be such a simpleton. Profits don't necessarily follow productivity. In any case corporate profits may have come on well in the last 2 years but that's on the back of a long period of stagnation. It isn't even back to trend yet. Laugh till you cry is absolutely correct. Wages follow productivity. They have fukk all to do with profit.