LABOUR FORCE FIGURES

The latest labour force figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today highlight the persistent underlying challenges in the labour market.

 

While Labor welcomes the overall increase in jobs for the month of August there are still serious challenges when it comes to underemployment and wages growth.

 

The unemployment rate remains high at 5.6 per cent.

 

The latest quarterly underemployment data released today remains close to record highs with more than 1.1 million Australians wanting more work but not being able to find it – there are 1.8 million of our fellow Australians who are either unemployed or underemployed.

 

This is contributing to record low wages growth, and the Government has no plan to address this challenge.

 

In fact, the Government has a plan to further cut people’s real income by supporting the decision to cut penalty rates. 

 

In addition, there are 727,500 unemployed Australians, with 37,000 more people lining the unemployment queue than when the Government was elected.

  

The policies of this Government are aimed at reducing workers bargaining power and further eroding Award wages and conditions through:

Cutting the penalty rates from the Award conditions relied on by the lowest paid workers;

Encouraging the termination of enterprise agreements, which undermines wages and conditions;

Trying to destroy unions with stealth attacks on their legitimacy through one piece of legislation after another.

  

While this Government defends their mates in big business, Labor talks to real workers in the labour market, who are telling us they are feeling increasingly casualised and precarious at work.