Business and unions agree on principles

The Jobs and Skills Summit between government, union and business representatives begins today and continues tomorrow. Some items have already been agreed and announcements are expected to be made over the course of the summit. With wages a key determinant of the wages outlook for the RBA, these statements are likely to be closely watched.

• The Business Council of Australia (BCA representing big business) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) released a statement of “agreed principles”, according to The Australian.
• They agreed to make the enterprise bargaining system “simpler and fairer”, including changes to the “better-off-overall test.” But the BCA has said that they don’t believe that multi-firm bargaining is the answer.
• Both businesses and unions support an increase in the migration cap by 160k-200k, but they don’t agree on visa conditions and pay rates. There was also agreement on reviewing the skills list.
• On another note, state governments agreed with the federal government to cut the Covid isolation period from 7 to 5 days. It is hoped that this will help with staff absences and thus shortages.