The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) launched the newest information right this moment (March 12, 2025) on – Industrial Disputes, Australia – which covers the December-quarter 2024. The information exhibits that there was a slight decline within the variety of industrial disputes during the last 12 months, though the variety of working days misplaced rose considerably (by 15.4 per cent within the quarter). Nevertheless, disputation stays at file lows. That truth is among the success tales of neoliberalism and the best way that the pursuits of Capital have co-opted authorities to make sure the earnings distribution was shifted again in favour of earnings on the expense of wages. There are all types of explanations given to elucidate the low actual wages development in Australia over the previous few a long time and all attempt to sheet dwelling the blame to world components or demographic shifts. However the truth stays that there was concerted motion by authorities underneath stress from the employer teams to introduce laws and regulation that undermined the capability of the commerce unions to pursue motion within the pursuits of their members. That motion was very profitable from the attitude of capital and devastating to staff. At this time’s weblog put up is absolutely only a set of notes in regards to the tendencies proven on this information.
Listed here are some graphs that body the dialogue.
There are numerous methods by which one can analyse the manifestations of sophistication warfare – variety of disputes, variety of working days misplaced, and the variety of staff concerned.
The present industrial disputes information sequence from the ABS begin on the March-quarter 1985 and supply information on all three measures up till the December-quarter 2024 (right this moment’s launch).
The primary graph exhibits the three sequence over that interval and whereas there’s plenty of noise within the information, the tendencies are clear.
This decline in industrial disputation has been large and has been the results of deliberate public coverage to weaken unions and make it simpler for bosses to prosecute unions who interact in industrial motion.
The decline marked the start of the interval when authorities turned from being a mediator within the class wrestle between labour and capital and have become an agent for capital.
However we get an excellent higher concept of how the commercial relations terrain has shifted by patching collectively older annual information from 1950 to 1984 to the present quarterly information proven within the earlier graph.
The subsequent two graphs present the variety of industrial disputes and the working days misplaced from 1950 to the December-quarter 2024 (the quarterly information sequence from the ABS begins within the March-quarter 1985).
Additional, we have now constant wage share information from the September-quarter 1959 to the December-quarter 2022, which is proven within the subsequent graph.
The distribution of nationwide earnings by way of the wages share peaked at 62.7 per cent within the March-quarter 1975.
By the December-quarter 2024, the wage share had fallen to 53.8 per cent.
The decline is multi-varied however a significant driving power has been the declining capability of commerce unions to successfully symbolize their members’ pursuits.
Historic – Commerce Union Statistics, Australia, December 1975 – present that union membership was on the rise in that yr:
Complete membership elevated by 52,100 (1.9 per cent) – Complete membership elevated by 52,100 (1.9 per cent) over 1974 to 2,814,000 … Between 1970 and 1975 male membership elevated by 12 per cent and feminine membership by SO per by 12 per cent and feminine membership by SO per cent.
Scaling that by the dimensions of the labour power, we be taught that:
Commerce union members on the finish of 1975 represented 58 per cent of employed wage and wage earners. The 58 per cent of employed wage and wage earners. The proportion for males was 63 per cent and for females proportion per 48 per cent.
Quick monitor into the current and the newest ABS launch of relevance – Commerce Union Membership – tells a bleak story for staff:
In August 2024:
– 13.1% of staff (1.6 million) had been commerce union members …
– Since 1992, the proportion of staff who had been commerce union members has fallen from 40%.
So in 1975, the protection was 58 per cent.
By 1992, it has fallen to 40 per cent.
And by August 2024, it was right down to 13.1 per cent.
However the newest information launch additionally contained some excellent news.
Between August 2022 and August 2024, commerce union members confirmed:
… a rise on the 12.5% recorded in August 2022.
Commerce unions protected staff in the course of the Covid lockdowns and hopefully there was a tipping level in membership as staff realise that with out that safety the bosses are going to proceed to undermine working situations and suppress actual wages development.
The opposite dimension of neoliberalism that bears on the working class is the speed of development in actual wages.
The next graph exhibits the annual proportion change in actual wages from the March-quarter 1999 to the December-quarter 2024.
In historic phrases this pattern is exhibiting very modest charges of development interspersed with prolonged durations of contracting buying energy for staff.
This Desk attracts on a special database (primarily based on Nationwide Account wage measures) to exhibits the typical annual actual wage compensation for the a long time.
| Decade | Common Annual Progress (%) |
| Sixties | 5.66 |
| Nineteen Seventies | 4.14 |
| Nineteen Eighties | 2.56 |
| Nineteen Nineties | 3.12 |
| 2000s | 2.66 |
| 2010s | 2.66 |
| 2020s | 2.23 |
The assault on the working class in Australia started after the primary OPEC oil disaster in October 1973 however accelerated within the second-half of the Nineteen Eighties when the then Labor authorities (sure!) watered down the commercial relations system that protected industrial motion.
From then (aligning with the info tendencies proven) there have been a sequence of legislative adjustments by each Labor and Conservative federal governments, which outlawed many previously accepted industrial methods by staff to place stress on bosses handy over a fair proportion of the productiveness development and shield wages from inflation.
No parallel constraints on value gouging by companies has been entertained by the federal government.
The information above data the victory of capital over the employees on this post-industrial period.
Hopefully, the newest signal that commerce union member is rising once more is the tipping level.
Smith Household Manga continues this Friday – the final episode in Season 2
The ultimate episode in Season 2 (Episode 12) of the – Smith Household Manga – will seem this Friday and the group is shocked when a determined Prime Minister, who has intentionally pushed hundreds of thousands into unemployment on the again of recommendation from economists that the general public debt ratio was too excessive, delivers an handle to the nation.
Mrs Boff makes a reappearance (The IMF Disaster: 40 Years On).
And Denis Healey is channelled.
The Manga will take a brief break (about 4 weeks) whereas we work out what occurs subsequent, which will probably be rather a lot.
That’s sufficient for right this moment!
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