The ACTU has released survey results showing that 59% of workers stated they are worried they will lose their current job in the next couple of years, whereas over 70% expressed the view that they felt as if they are working harder for less pay, and 80% stated that getting a reasonable pay rise was difficult. ACTU Secretary Sally McManus, says the crux of the survey results is that workers want reasonable wage rises and more job security, and the ACTU intends to use the results of the survey to back its case for an increase in the minimum wage. From The Canberra Times:
“If there’s ever a time for a big increase to the minimum wage, it’s now,” Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Ms McManus told Fairfax Media…
“It’s in everyone’s interests.”
The ACTU’s largest every survey, of nearly 60,000 workers including cleaners, teachers to miners and construction workers, also reveals deep pessimism about their chances of winning a pay rise and their ability to find fulfilling work if they lose their current jobs. It also finds people are finding it harder to save and are concerned about the next generation’s prospects of permanent work as casualisation spreads.
The survey shows more than 70 per cent of workers feel like they are working harder for less, as bosses expect them to do longer hours, work unpaid overtime, and as cost-of-living increases eat away at their incomes.
More than half of workers – 59 per cent – say they fear they will lose their jobs in the next few years. And nearly 80 per cent of respondents fear they will not be able to find fulfilling work if they do lose their current job.
“People who have been in existing employment for a while fear there is a cliff to fall off if they lose that job. That cliff ends up being labour hire, or contract work, or casual work. They can see it happening,” Ms McManus said.
People are also concerned for their kids’ future in the workforce, with 90 per cent worried there will be fewer permanent and secure jobs for the next generation of workers…
Nearly half say they are finding it harder to keep up with mortgage and rent, and more people say they are struggling to pay for health care and dentistry (66 per cent), household utility bills (68 per cent) and service their credit card debts (53 per cent)…
Ms McManus said the results could be boiled down to two main themes: Australians want more secure jobs and fair pay rises.
These are all fair gripes by Ms McManus. But yet again, there’s absolutely no acknowledgement from her that running mass immigration into an already oversupplied labour market is exacerbating the problems experienced by workers by eroding their bargaining power, as well as raising their cost of living (e.g via more expensive housing and infrastructure).
Think about it from an employer’s perspective: why would you grant a pay rise when you can easily replace a local worker with a migrant willing to work for less?
The very purpose of foreign worker visas is to suppress wages growth by enabling employers to recruit from a global pool of labour to compete with Australian workers under the guise of ‘skills shortages’.
