WAGE RISES AT RECORD LOWS

A new report from the Department of Employment’s Historical Trends data reveals wage rises have fallen to record lows, and Labor is seriously concerned that the Turnbull Government is incapable of taking action.

The data shows that for private sector agreements approved in the March quarter, wage rises fell to 2.7 per cent, and 2.4 per cent in the public sector.

Wage rises in the private sector haven’t been so low since 1991. Across both private and public sectors, wages increased by only 2.7 per cent, which has dropped from 3.1 per cent in the December quarter.

Labor has long held concerns about low wages growth, and believe without a doubt, the dwindling bargaining power of workers and their representatives has played a central role. 

Yet the Turnbull Government is bereft of a plan to deal with the inequality we are seeing in today’s labour market – the flat wage growth, the proliferation of insecure work, the falling share of GDP accruing to employees, and the relative impoverishment of low skilled workers.

Quite the opposite. This is a Government that wants to cut penalty rates of low and middle income Australians, while giving big business a tax cut.

Just how out of touch can this Government get?

Under the Turnbull government we are headed to a low-wage, easy-to-hire, easy-to-fire society, which is distorting job security and income distribution.

It is completely unsurprising that under this Government wages are now falling in real terms, while cost of living pressures are rising and workers are struggling to make ends meet.