Not that many years ago, Australia’s problem was an excess supply of workers. Now hospitality businesses are struggling to get any applicants. | benschneiders and joshgordo
Unions, meanwhile, are at a historic low point. Just 14 per cent of the workforce is unionised, compared with about half in the 1980s. Company profits now make up 31 per cent of total earnings from the production of goods and services, a post-war high, while wages make up about half, the lowest since the late 1950s.
Unlike the lead-up to Hawke’s 1983 summit, this time the problem is not an excess of wages growth, but too little. In fact, real wages – measuring the buying power of our pay packets after factoring in the rising cost of living – have gone backwards over the past decade. According to the latest figures, over the year to June, as inflation surged, real wages fell by about 3.3 per cent, the largest decline on record.
All the while, key sectors such as health, education, transport, logistics, agriculture and hospitality have come close to buckling as they continue to deal with the impact of the pandemic. She also wants to make a clear “self-nominated” path for temporary migrants to obtain permanent residency and to be able to access social security, including Centrelink and Medicare – potentially significant changes.
“The pandemic gives an opportunity in terms of a reset for the temporary migrant system. It’s been dysfunctional and exploitative for many years.“The problem of exploitation is happening in industries where exploitation is already the norm,” says Professor Tham, citing hospitality, cleaning services, food delivery and agriculture in particular.
Employers and unions alike say the exclusion of temporary migrant workers from JobKeeper has damaged Australia’s reputation. Then-prime minister Scott Morrison even told them to “go home” in early 2020. The number of temporary migrants is still far lower than it was three years ago.
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