Unions to push for wage setting changes

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting this morning that the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will be pushing for a change to workplace law at next week’s jobs and skills summit.

• The ACTU wants it to be easier for whole industries to negotiate for the same pay and conditions, rather than it happening at the company level.
• The new labor government is expected to announce a lift in the migrant cap to help reduce labour shortages at its budget to be announced on October 25^th. However, the ACTU have also said that higher wages need to be the priority when looking at this issue.
• Meanwhile, research from the Grattan Institute has found that lifting the migrant cap by 160k-200k would only have a minimal effect on the skill shortages but would boost state and federal government revenues.
• The ACTU has strong ties with the Australian Labor Party and so its views are likely to be considered seriously at the summit.
• Its proposal would reduce labour market flexibility at the firm level and make Australian wages stickier. Any changes to the wage setting system are also likely to be watched closely by the RBA for any risks of it contributing to wage-push inflation.