Been feeling ripped off lately? You’re not alone – working people are suffering through some of the biggest cost-of-living increases in a generation.
From food to petrol to electricity to flights: prices everywhere are skyrocketing. As are corporate profits and executive salaries and bonuses.
It is clear that big business are price gouging working people. It has to stop. That’s why ACTU have launched an inquiry into price gouging by big business in Australia.
What is price-gouging and how does it affect me?
Price-gouging is when a business deliberately raises the price of goods and services in order to profiteer.
This is what we’ve seen escalate since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses choosing to continue raising prices beyond justification. Global supply chains have recovered, and there’s no longer any excuse for big business to keep prices as high as they are.
The Greed-Price Spiral is what’s really driving inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
Big business will do anything to turn a profit and secure record-breaking CEO salary increases. Even the Reserve Bank Australia recently admitted the role these prices hikes are playing in driving up inflation and worsening the cost-of-living crisis.
Working people are suffering
The cost-of-living crisis is worse now than it was at the height of the pandemic, and it’s hitting ordinary Australians hardest. Take a look at just a handful of stats that show the grim reality of millions around the country. An ACTU survey earlier this year found that:
– 24% were skipping meals
– 51% have used their savings to pay for daily expenses
– 68% reduced or stopped spending on non-essential items
– 24% have been unable to pay bills or had fallen behind on bills
Ordinary Australians are bearing all the pain of a situation they did not cause and have little control over.
Have you been ripped off? Let us know
As unionists, we know that progressive change comes from workers and communities banding together.
By sharing stories of the unscrupulous price-gouging we’ve experienced, we can take control of the narrative and hold big business to account.
It’s time to expose the price gouging – and your contribution will help us do just that.
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It’s time to hold big business to account