Statement from ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly
Today’s Senate report into the non-payment of super confirms that a staggering one-third of eligible Australian workers are being underpaid their super.
This is nothing more than another case of wage theft that will impact workers for decades to come, decimating the right to dignity in retirement, to which all working Australians are entitled.
We need more resources and focus – increased penalties on employers will help. But we also need to look at avoidance, shams and contracting arrangements where super is either being missed or not paid at all.
Workers also need strong mechanisms to allow them to recover unpaid super.
However, as the widespread underpayment of workers across the country shows, working people need the rules rewritten to allow them to reassert the rights which they have collectively won and which cannot be allowed to erode.
The Federal Government should be addressing the real problems with super that today’s report have highlighted, instead of continuing its crusade to make it easier for big banks to get their hands on workers retirement savings.
ENDS
