With International Women’s Day on Saturday, the ACTU says women are now seeing real growth in their wages.
Women in full-time work on the average wage have earned an extra $7,800 more than they would have, had the low wages policies of the Coalition continued, according to a new ACTU analysis marking International Women’s Day tomorrow.
The boost in women’s wages under the Albanese Government equates to an extra $2,600 on average per year for a full-time working woman.
The comprehensive slowdown in overall wages growth under the Coalition between 2013 to 2022 resulting in wages growth of just 2.1 per year on average, has now lifted to 3.7 per cent on average.
The increase in wages growth follows a range of Federal Government reforms to get wages moving. These include Government backing for higher award and minimum wages to help manage cost-of-living pressures. Nearly 6 in 10 workers on awards are women.
The Secure Jobs Better Pay reforms of 2022 expanded bargaining coverage which has lifted wages for women covered by collective agreements and action to tackle the undervaluing of so-called ‘women’s work’.
This has led to record pay increases for workers in aged care and early childhood education and care, with pay boosts for health professionals and pharmacists, among other occupations, expected shortly.
Policies to help women stay connected to work – from stronger rights to request flexible working, such as work-from-home – and improved paid parental leave are also helping to lift women’s wages.
The Right to Disconnect laws have reduced unpaid overtime and new laws introduced in January to stop widespread wage theft will rein in wage under-payments.
Quotes attributable to ACTU President, Michele O’Neil:
“The change of government in May 2022 signalled an end to the wages’ stagnation of nine years under the Coalition.
“Nearly three years later, on the eve of International Women’s Day, it is clear interventions by the Albanese Government to deliver real wage growth are working.
“Without these changes made by the Government and action taken by unions, working women would be $7,800 worse off on average.
“Now wages are growing, and the gender pay gap shrinking it is critical these new wage settings and rights remain in place and are built upon.
“The biggest risk to women’s wages is a Dutton-led Coalition going back to the ‘deliberate design feature’ of slow wage growth that then Finance Minister, Matthias Cormann outlined.
“Women can’t afford to see real wages going backwards. The plans announced by Peter Dutton to reverse rights for casual workers, the right to disconnect and better bargaining rights and their support for penalty rate cuts will send working women backwards.
“Women can’t afford more insecure work, for public sector wage caps to come back and to lose lifts to aged care and early childhood education and care workers’ wages. They can’t afford to see their work being undervalued and underpaid.”
ENDS
Notes:
The ACTU analysis takes the full time average weekly ordinary time earnings of women in May 2022, when the government changed hands, and grows them by both the wage price index under this term of Government, against the average growth in the wage price index under nine years of previous coalition governments. Women are $7,800 ahead.
