CANBERRA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia's top union secretary has warned employers of a concerted push for pay rises if the recovering economy avoids more lockdowns in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), recently declared that Australian workers have a "strong appetite for wage increases."

She said employees accepted pay freezes in 2020 amid the pandemic but there would be "a lot of pent-up demand for wages increases come the end of the year" as Australia's economic recovery continues.

"People won't accept an ongoing situation of wage suppression where they can see that employers and the big companies of Australia are doing fine. There will be an appetite to address that," said McManus, according to News Corp Australia on Friday.

McManus's comments came one day after Guy Debelle, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), said in a speech that wage growth remains stagnant despite the economic recovery exceeding expectations.

"While the Australian economy has experienced better employment outcomes than most other countries, wages growth in Australia has been noticeably weaker than in many comparable economies," he said.

McManus said on Friday that 60 percent of the jobs created in Australia since the pandemic were casual, reflecting a shift towards insecure work arrangements.

"I think that's building the economy on sand because there's a nexus between wages growth and how secure jobs are," she said. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)