The Executive of the ACTU met in Melbourne this week to adopt a new campaign plan to improve the wages, working conditions and superannuation of working families.
The national union body will discuss a platform of issues for unions to take into workplaces including:
ACTU President, Ms Sharan Burrow said that despite 16 years of positive economic growth and record high company profits working families were under increasing financial pressure. Ms Burrow said:
“The core issues facing working families are income pressures, lack of support for families at work, the need for adequate retirement savings and the increased level of casual and contract work.
“Eleven years of the Howard Government has seen many working families go backwards, and the use of AWA’s under WorkChoices has led to hundreds of thousands of employees losing important job conditions including penalty rates, shift allowances, public holiday pay, annual leave loading, redundancy pay and other conditions.
“It is not good for the economy for families to go backwards, or for families to lose their capacity to pay their bills.
“The union movement will be leading the way in campaigning for real wage increases for families under pressure, increases in superannuation to improve retirement incomes and other conditions such as increased skills and training commitments that will be good for workers and good for the Australian economy.”
ACTU Executive Resolution – Finding the balance for working Australians and their families
