AUSTRALIAN unions are demanding full and secure employment for all ahead of a major jobs summit next month as they release a new paper calling for government action. 

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says that while unemployment in the country is historically low, real wages are rapidly falling and insecure work is rife. 

Domestic and international indicators point to a risk of downgrading economic growth, the confederation warned today.

Last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that inflation has risen to 6.1 per cent, an increase of 1.8 per cent for the June quarter, the highest level for decades.  

A decade of low-wage policy by successive coalition governments has seen pay falling year on year, unions say. 

“The result is working Australians have lost an entire decade of wage growth, exacerbating an already severe cost of living crisis. 

“In the last year alone, a worker on the average annual income of $69,000 (£39,000) will have experienced a $2,350 pay cut,” the ACTU said. 

“The struggle to make ends meet is becoming near impossible for millions of wage earners,” it added, calling for “decisive action” from the government. 

The paper An Economy That Works for People outlines a strategy for that would benefit all Australians rather than a handful of powerful corporations, the ACTU said. 

Its release is the first to outline the union movement’s position leading into next month’s summit with prime minister Anthony Albanese’s new Labour administration. 

“Working people have suffered through nearly a decade of insecure work and stagnant wages, only now to be met with historically high inflation delivering massive real pay cuts”, ACTU secretary Sally McManus said. 

“Our top economic goal as a nation should be to give everyone that chance to get a secure and fairly paid job,” she added. “This benefits everyone. That’s what we mean by full and secure employment.”