Whether our wages go up or down isn’t just determined by unions and employers negotiating pay rises. It’s also determined by the legal framework within which those negotiations take place.
For a decade, the previous LNP government’s policies were deliberately designed to keep wages low and business profits soaring.
It’s taken a while to turn the ship around, but thanks to the Albanese Labor Government’s ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay’ laws, that’s exactly what’s happening now – and finance workers are experiencing the tangible benefits of this legislation.
Insurance worker Alex Venaglia is one of those workers. For a decade, his employer refused to bargain with the FSU for a new enterprise agreement, dragging wages and conditions behind the rest of the sector.
Under the new legislation, the FSU was finally able to negotiate a fair agreement that is industry leading.
“The guaranteed pay increases in my new Enterprise Agreement will make a massive difference to my pay,” said Alex.
“When the first guaranteed pay increase is applied later in the year, my pay will go up $148 a fortnight. Once the last increase takes effect in three years’ time, my pay will have increased by $10,210.
“Having more money in my pocket from these pay rises means we can afford the little extra things like sending my daughter Alice to swimming lessons, and we can do more fun activities together as a family without worrying as much about how that’s going to impact our budget.”
Alex also has the certainty of a guaranteed pay rise – something that was only introduced in his enterprise agreement thanks to the government’s new legislation tipping the favour back to workers.
“The fact that the pay rises are guaranteed makes a huge difference,” said Alex.
“It means we can budget for the future. Knowing these increases are guaranteed gives me more confidence that we won’t keep falling behind.”
It’s no accident that, in real terms, Australians’ wages have grown in the past year more than they did under nine years of Coalition governments. With inflation back down, interest rates falling, and wages continuing to grow, workers will start to feel the benefits of this correction over coming years.
But that is all at risk under a Dutton-led LNP government. Peter Dutton has committed to abolishing ‘Same Job Same Pay’ rights, scrapping our improved collective bargaining rights, and continuing the LNP’s usual and tired attack on union members.
Alex said it’s these new rights that are making a difference to the lives of workers.
“New bargaining rights mean we can tackle issues like ‘start before you start’ and unpaid overtime – problems that don’t just affect one person but entire workplaces. It’s about having
the collective strength of union members behind you to push for fairer conditions.”
We can’t risk Dutton this election. Read more about what’s at stake here.
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