Govt must instruct RBA to prioritise full and secure employment

August 11, 2022

Full and secure employment should be the top macro-economic tool of the federal government according to Australian Unions in a new paper released yesterday ahead of the Jobs summit in early September.

The paper; "An economy that works for people" outlines how the economy can be overhauled in the nation's interest to benefit Australians, rather than a handful of powerful corporations.

As it outlines, while the unemployment rate is historically low, real wages are nevertheless falling quickly, insecure work is rife, and many domestic and international indicators point to a risk of downgrading economic growth.

The Jobs and Skills Summit is a key opportunity to set a new goal to reach full and secure employment by:

• Instructing the Reserve Bank to pursue full employment in balance with its inflation target, and acting in coordination with the Federal Government to achieve full employment and other macroeconomic goals.
• Implementing a fairer and more comprehensive inflation-reducing & policy that protects workers 'incomes prevents price sousing and tackles the underlying sources of inflation in energy, housing and early childhood education and care.
• Ensuring fiscal policy supports the creation of quality jobs in the public and private sectors.
• Reforming our industrial relations system to allow workers to bargain for their fair share of our national wealth.

The paper is the first in a series, outlining the union movement's position leading into the Jobs and Skills Summit next month.

"A decade of a Liberal Government focused on deliberate policies aimed at wage suppression and work insecurity, has lead to a decline in real wages."

The Jobs & Skills Summit is an opportunity to bring wages back up to match the cost of living, deliver secure jobs for South Australian Workers and see living standards rise again."

"There are countless international causes of inflation, and at the moment, the RBA only has one tool in its toolbox. The RBA is using interest rates like a sledgehammer, but this situation needs a scalpel."

"The RBA needs to prioritise the human elements of our economy, by raising interest rates without addressing any of the root causes of inflation, all the RBA is doing, is making it harder for people to live."