The Wages Crisis in Australia

Wages Crisis cover

What it is and what to do about it

edited by Andrew Stewart, Jim Stanford and Tess Hardy

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FREE | 2018 | Ebook (PDF) |Ìý978-1-925261-83-7Ìý| 360 pp

DOI:Ìý

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The print edition is availableÌýfrom Federation Press. Please direct print editionÌýinquiries to Federation PressÌýinfo@federationpress.com.au

  • Chapter details

    I. THE PROBLEM

    1.ÌýAustralia, we have aÌýproblem
    Jim Stanford, TessÌýHardy and Andrew Stewart
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    2.ÌýCharting wage stagnation in AustraliaÌý
    Jim Stanford
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    3.ÌýGlobal perspectives on wage stagnation
    Stephen Kinsella and John Howe
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    4.ÌýWhat's causing the wages slowdown?
    Tess Hardy and Andrew Stewart
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    II. WAGE SETTING MECHANISMS AND INSTITUTIONS

    5.ÌýMinimum wages
    Tim Lyons
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    6. Gender pay equity
    Sara Charlesworth and Meg Smith
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    7.ÌýCollective bargaining power
    David Peetz
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    8. Public sector austerity and its spill-over effects
    Troy Henderson
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    9.ÌýContracting outÌýcommunity services, marketisation and wages
    Fiona Macdonald and Michael Pegg
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    10. Executive remuneration in listed companies and wage settingÌý
    Kym Sheehan
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    III. BUSINESS STRUCTURES AND VULNERABLE WORKERS

    11. Fractured word
    Josh Bornstein
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    12. Wage theft and young workersÌý
    Keelia Fitzpatrick
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    13. Temporary migrant workers, underpayment and predatory business models
    Iain Campbell
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    14. Is there a wages crisis facing skilled temporary migrants?Ìý
    Joanna Howe
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    IV. STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES ON CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND SOLUTIONS

    15. A business perspective
    Saul Eslake
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    16. A union perspective on the wages crisis and how to solve it
    Damian Kyloh
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    17. A community perspective: The human and social costs of wage stagnation
    John Falzon
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    18. Young Australians and the disrupted economy
    Annette Cairnduff, Kelly Fawcett and Nina Roxburgh
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    19. An investor perspective
    Craig Shepherd and Penny Heard
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    V. FINDING SOLUTIONS

    20. Conclusion: Wages and inclusive growth
    Andrew Stewart, Jim Stanford and Tess Hardy
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    APPENDIX

    An overview of labour regulation in Australia
    Andrew StewartÌý
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    Ìý

The persistence of weak wages growth in Australia, at a time when the state of the economy might suggest much better outcomes for workers, has baffled policy makers.

Andrew Stewart, Jim Stanford and Tess Hardy have drawn together expert analysts from business, universities, think tanks, community organisations and trade unions to answer four pressing questions: What is the wages crisis? Why is it happening? Why does it matter? And what should we do about it?

Written in non-technical terms for a general audience, the essays in this book offer many insights into one of Australia’s most pressing economic and social issues. They highlight the key point that wage stagnation is a problem with multiple causes and dimensions. It will not fix itself, but will need decisive policy action. In their conclusion, the editors set out their own views of what that might be.

Review

'As the editors – Jim Stanford, Tess Hardy and Andrew Stewart – note, once the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor, Dr Philip Lowe, encourages workers to demand higher wages, we do indeed have a problem.'

In his review, George Lafferty from Western Sydney UniversityÌýdescribes this timely book as one that 'opens up a range of complex, interconnected issues relevant to Australia’s wages crisis' by drawing 'on a diverse range of expert and stakeholder contributions'.

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