1y ago

The push against wage rises has begun again – it’s an argument for Australia’s poorest workers to become poorer | Greg Jericho

4 comments

The chamber of commerce and other employer groups never want minimum or award wages to rise by more than inflation. It is about time they were honest and admit they are arguing for the poorest workers in Australia to not just stay poor but become poorer.
Well that about sums it up the mentality of business groups.
- The chamber of commerce and other employer groups never want minimum or award wages to rise by more than inflation.
  I recall more than one year (every year?) where they asked for minimum wage increases that were less than inflation. They don't just want wages to stagnate, they want wages to decrease.
The thing is, businesses have a vested interest against wage growth, as wage growth is directly and totally incompatible with annual record profits - wage growth would eat into that.
Put simply, it's a conflict of interest. If people with conflicts of interest ceased to be allowed to participate in conversations wherein they have that conflict, the world would be a better place.
- But commerce requires people to be able to purchase things. This is not possible if the people don’t have any free income.