Thanks to Peter Dutton and the Liberals, the ‘Closing Loopholes Bill’ has been delayed until at least the start of next year. This means more pain for Australians struggling to afford the essentials in this cost-of-living crisis.
The Closing Loopholes bill was introduced by the Albanese Government in the face of massive price gouging and profiteering by big business that caused a massive inflation spike. The new laws will increase job security, help stop wage theft, make workplaces safer, and help get wages moving again.
Unsurprisingly, the Coalition and big business are hellbent on sinking the bill, making ridiculous claims about these sensible changes.
The bill will have a positive effect on the wages of working Australians, breaking through a decade of wage stagnation.
The reality is that that unscrupulous businesses are continuing to exploit loopholes to drive wages down in a cynical race to the bottom.
We saw a recent example of this with Qantas, who exploited labour hire loopholes to illegally sack 1700 staff in 2020.
While these union members won a substantial victory, the fact that Qantas thought they could get away with such egregious conduct shows how just far big business are willing to go to increase their profits.
This is what the ‘Closing Loopholes Bill’ is all about
This is what the ‘Closing Loopholes Bill’ is all about.
The ‘Closing Loopholes Bill’ will implement a range of measures to better protect workers and deliver secure jobs and decent pay rises.
This includes essential changes like minimum pay and conditions for gig workers, stopping big business from using labour hire loopholes and providing more support for casual workers.
It will also criminalise wage theft to ensure that bosses who deliberately steal from workers are punished.
Click here to read the full summary of the proposed legislation.
Reforms critical to ensure workers receive a fair wage
We know that corporate profits are booming in Australia, but workers – who generate this profit – aren’t getting their fair share.
It’s not difficult to work out where the profits are going. Just this year executives at some of Australia’s biggest companies have recorded pay increases of fifteen per cent or more. That’s on top of annual salaries that start at an average of well over one million dollars, not to mention bonuses.
The coalition blocked these reforms because, as per business as usual for the coalition, they care far more about big business and their CEO mates than everyday working Australians.
This has to change. And the way to win change is to stand up against the cynical campaigning of big business and the coalition. You can sign our petition today to close the loopholes and keep wages moving.
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Let’s get wages moving again – close the loopholes