Labor’s jobs summit to focus on pay deals and productivity in bid to lift wages

theguardian.com:

More immigration, improved skills policy and simplifying collective bargaining have emerged as three top demands from employers for the new Labor government’s jobs summit.

Experts suggest the forum could also pave the way for reforms including wage theft legislation, which was dropped from the Coalition’s industrial relations bill, and action on union demands about insecure work.

The employment summit, likely to be held by September, comes at a time of record-low unemployment and as most workers are suffering real pay cuts due to soaring inflation.

When he proposed it in 2021, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, described the summit as a chance to “identify barriers to full employment, tackle job insecurity and create a new agenda for national productivity”.

After unemployment fell to just 3.9% and headline inflation reached 5.1%, Albanese, now the prime minister, suggested the forum would bring unions and businesses together to discuss “how we can lift wages, lift profits, without putting pressure on inflation, by lifting productivity”.

One of the core problems of Australia’s industrial relations system is the decline of workplace pay deals, which lift wages higher than the award but are difficult to negotiate.

In roundtable negotiations in 2020, unions agreed to lower the bar for the “better off overall test” so that not all employees would have to be better off in all circumstances, in return for union-approved pay deals being fast-tracked through the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

The deal, agreed with the Business Council of Australia, was rejected by other employer groups and the Coalition, which pushed instead for pandemic powers and other changes that could result in pay cuts.

The Australian Industry Group chief executive,