After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, working people around the world have been suffering and victimized by the global capitalist system that failed to protect people’s lives and livelihood.
Workers’ Rights and Industrial
The squeeze on workers far predates the COVID-19 pandemic. In today’s dollars more than $4 trillion has shifted from workers’ pockets to corporate profits.
The end of the JobKeeper program on March 28 means that up to 500,000 jobs are at risk, according to Small Business Australia (SBA). Government estimates are that 150,000 jobs could go.
Some of the policies we are proposing that no other party is actively campaigning on include: land rights; net zero emissions within 10 years, bringing strategic monopolised sectors of the economy into democratic public ownership, restricting residential rent increases to the consumer price index, 30,000 new public housing dwellings in four years and; sustainable transport solutions as a better alternative to both Roe 8 and building an Outer Harbour.
No union movement in its right mind should support the isolation and potential de-registration of its strongest sector. Yet, Labor supports this and the ACTU appears to be silent.
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Narendra Modi’s right-wing BJP government is seeking to privatise the public sector and reduce workers’ and farmers’ rights.
Behind the “We’re all in this together” rhetoric, it seems clear that employers and the government were not going to waste a crisis; they saw the talks as an opportunity to weaken industrial relations laws they judge to be “holding back” the economy.
The passing of the Greens-initiated motion for a Green New Deal (GND) in Victoria in the Legislative Council on November 11 is a significant step forward.
Albanese rushed to support the Coalition’s plan to give billions in more tax-cuts-and-subsidies for its business mates — to be funded by a historic increase in public debt to nearly $1 trillion.
There is a big lie at the heart of Frydenberg’s budget speech. The rich don’t need more public largesse; if they wanted to create more jobs they already have more than enough money to do this.
The wages share of national income has fallen to below 50% for the first time since 1959
Three unions aligned with the right faction of the ALP have called for the scrapping of the 88-day working holiday visa program. They claim this will cause farm bosses to pay better wages. But will it? Or, is it an excuse to scapegoat and play the nationalist card?