ACTU President, Ged Kearney, has presented her vision for the next decade of trade union campaigning, at the National Press Club in Canberra this week.
I have the honour of becoming President at a new and exciting stage in Australia’s political history.
A minority government opens, not just the possibility of new ideas inside Parliament, but in the wider community as well.
But regardless of the novelty of the current political environment the long term task of the union movement and my role as part of its leadership is to:
• help build our membership;
• improve our capacity to campaign; and
• broaden our agenda.
Over its history, the Australian union movement has always stood for fairness and equality, and been at the forefront of progressive workplace, economic and social change.
In 2009 our membership grew for the second year in a row and overall union density increased for the first time in 20 years - showing unions are on the right path.
The Fair Work Act has been a great step forward for fairness and balance in the workplaces of this country.
Of course, the union movement will continue to press for Australia to catch up to the rest of the world in respect to rights at work.
The Fair Work Act itself is an unfinished canvas for the union movement as we have canvassed on many occasions.
But at least we now have the space and opportunity to rebuild the Australian workplace and develop a vision of society that meets the needs of the modern workforce.
During the election campaign I had the chance to hear from many working Australians.
They are struggling financially to makes ends meet.
They are stretched between family responsibilities and economic commitments.
For many there is no guarantee of the basic security and entitlements that many of us take for granted.
These struggles are not imaginary. The wages share of national income is now at its lowest point since December 1964. Employment is now more precarious than ever.
Without knowing the figures they sense what the statistics show - that productivity is rising faster than real wages and that real unit labour costs are at their lowest on record while executive salaries reach dizzying new heights.
Workers tell me that they want our economy to start working for them – rather than them simply working for the economy. They want and deserve a fair share.
In a time for new ideas in politics – I want my time as President of the ACTU to be committed to pursuing these aspirations and leading debate on a larger policy agenda – industrial, economic, social.
Today, I want to outline three policy areas where the union movement has a special interest and can play a central role in developing a better and fairer nation.
The first is job security.
Over the past decade one of the biggest trends in the Australian workplace has been the move away from full-time and secure jobs, to what is called precarious employment.
Indeed, for the first time in Australia’s history, fewer than 50 per cent of the workforce is classified as being in permanent full-time employment.
This week, we have released a report that highlights the significant changes workers face both at work and outside work.
For more than a decade the idea of regulating the labour market has been regarded as an economic sin. But is it?
Would national regulation that required companies to offer casual workers permanent jobs after six months be so restrictive to business?
Would the social benefits of more secure jobs outweigh any marginal impact on the bottom line?
Can we find ways to reward employers that do the right thing - for instance, we could take this into account when government contracts are awarded?
I believe we can.
Today the ACTU calls for the establishment of a formal national process that involves industry, government and unions. We need dedicated resources to produce real long term solutions that ensure equitable sharing of the benefits of productivity and economic growth with all working Australians.
The second policy priority I would identify is building communities that work.
Many of our major cities are being strangled by long-term under-investment in infrastructure.
More workers are spending longer getting to and from work.
We need to collectively find ways to allow superannuation to be harnessed to build the infrastructure of Australia’s future.
Many industry super funds, such as CBUS already invest in projects – it is not uncommon to find a building worker toiling away on a project that he or she part owns.
Think about it – Australia’s workers investing their retirement savings in projects that develop their industries and communities.
The third policy priority where I think there is important work to be done is the implications of dealing with an ageing population.
There will be fewer people in the workforce supporting more in retirement. Unless we make changes, this is going to result in an economic crisis.
Of course, there are a whole range of other issues where the ACTU has an active role to play.
But I would argue the three issues I have touched on today broaden our agenda in significant ways.
• To reinvent the structures of work, not just the conditions in the workplace.
• To take an active role in building communities by unlocking worker capital.
• And to deal with the nation’s demographic changes, in a way that recognises the demands on all generations of Australians.
These are big questions that require national conversations.
And these are conversations that the ACTU is prepared to lead on behalf of working Australians.
This is an edited transcript of the speech given by ACTU President Ged Kearney at the Canberra Press Club in October. See the ACTU website for the full speech.