CEO pay rise - Lamp Online

The ACTU has called on the Reserve Bank of Australia to stop hurting workers with interest rate rises.

The latest rise of 0.25 per cent means there have been 11 increases since May 2022, with a brief pause providing next to no relief.

Working people are bearing the brunt of fixing inflation but the real driver is corporate profits fuelled by excessive price rises, says the ACTU.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus says there is no wage-price spiral and it’s time to cease interest rate rises and for corporate Australia to moderate their profits.

“Working people are under immense pressure and this will make it worse. Ordinary Australians are struggling to pay the bills every time they go to the supermarket. Mortgages and rents have gone up an extraordinary amount as well.

“We can see inflation around the world coming down and that’s because it’s being driven by supply chain issues and by companies such as Qantas price gouging. The Reserve Bank should be calling that out, and putting pressure on companies to stop price gouging.

“The Reserve Bank is a very long way from the lives of ordinary Australians, who need wage increases just to keep their heads above water. Increases to the minimum wage and award wages this year are now more urgent than ever.”

“The Reserve Bank should be putting pressure on companies to stop price gouging.” Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary

Profits are up, CEO pay is up and inflation is rocketing, but real wages are heading south.

Wage growth has risen by only 0.7 per cent to 2.6 per cent, less than half the rate of inflation at 6.1 per cent, according to data released by the ABS last month.

Real wages have now effectively fallen back to 2011 levels, says the ACTU, after years of stagnant wage growth followed by deep, ongoing real pay cuts. These cuts are projected to deepen by the end of the year, with inflation expected to reach 7.75 per cent.

“It is clear that we have a serious systemic problem. We have been promised wages would go up when productivity goes up – they have not. We were promised that when business does well, pay rises will come – they have not. For six months unemployment has been low, yet wages are continuing to flatline,” says ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.

“Living standards are going backwards and workers now have the lowest share of GDP in recorded history.

“Our bargaining system is the engine of wage growth but the engine has conked out. Our country needs urgent reform to our wages system to get wage growth back on track.”

Meanwhile in the bank sector, profits are up 28 per cent, CEO pay is up 36 per cent and shareholder returns in the form of dividends and buybacks are up 57 per cent.

ACTU calls out RBA on interest rate rises

Real wages fall to 2011 level