Enterprise Bargaining System no Longer Fit for Purpose
The collapse in agreement coverage under Australia’s enterprise bargaining system in Australia in recent years, particularly in the private sector, has focused attention on the need for reforms that will give more workers the effective ability to collectively negotiate better wages and conditions. In the private sector, coverage by a current enterprise agreement has fallen by half since 2013: to below 11% of all workers by March 2021. No wonder wages are lagging so far behind inflation.
The new Commonwealth government has pledged to find ways to strengthen collective bargaining. In this feature interview with the ABC’s national economics program The Business, Senior Economist Alison Pennington discusses the reasons why the current system is not working, and some of the reforms that will be required to support bargaining and lift wages.
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