The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has commented on the results of the ABC’s 2021 Australia Talks survey which, among other things, shows the effect insecure work is having on the way young workers and women are thinking about their lives and their jobs.
According to the ACTU, the survey finds that Australian workers are rightly concerned about the spiralling rate of insecure work, nervous about having a secure retirement, and concerned about what future generations will face.
The survey said three-quarters of young workers and 59 percent of Australians now believe that this generation will be worse off than their parents.
More than half of women facing an uncertain future
In addition, 50 percent of Australians are not confident that they will have enough to retire with, and the division is widening between men and women, with 55 percent of women facing an uncertain future.
Fewer Australians now believe that being a hard worker will be rewarded, with the survey showing a 12 percent drop in people who believe that ‘if you work hard, you can be successful no matter what’.
The ACTU has called on the Government to act now to reduce the negative impact of insecure and unreliable work by restoring rights for casual and gig workers.
Successive Governments have stripped workers’ rights
“These results shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. We have witnessed consecutive coalition Governments strip workers’ rights and oversee the lowest wage growth period since the great depression,” said the union body’s Secretary, Sally McManus.
“Four in five Australians know that there is a dangerous wealth gap in this country between the richest and everyone else, especially women. Unfortunately, the Morrison Government spent more in the budget on tax cuts for the wealthy than their entire expenditure on women.
“It’s hard for Australian workers to believe hard work will pay off when they are working multiple insecure jobs with no pay rises in a decade, while the Government continues to cut taxes for big business,” McManus stated.
