Poll commissioned by Australian Council of Trade Unions finds only 20% got a raise that covered increased costs

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Only one in five Australian workers say they had a pay rise in the past year that covered increases in the cost of living with almost half reporting no rise at all, according to a new ReachTel poll.

The poll, commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, suggests that the majority of voters have noticed record-low wage growth and rate it a significant political issue.

Labor is gearing up to make sluggish wage growth a key election issue, signalling it wants to change the way the minimum wage is set and prevent labour hire being used to undercut the pay of permanent employees.

The poll of 2,453 people on 2 August first asked voters if they were in paid employment and, if yes, had they received a pay rise that was large enough to cover increases in the cost of living in the past 12 months.

Almost half (47.6%) said they had “no pay rise at all”, a further 32.9% said they had “a pay rise but not enough to cover my cost of living, and 19.5% said they had “a pay rise that covered my costs of living”.

When asked how significant low wage growth was to how they would vote 28.2% said it was “the top issue”, 54% said it was “important but not the top issue”, while 17.9% said it was not important. However, no other single issue was polled for comparison.

The poll found Labor leading the Coalition 51% to 49% in two-party preferred terms.

Wages in Australia have stagnated, growing 2.1% in the past year, up from a record low of 1.9% the year before. The latest ABS figures showed the cost of living for working households increased by 2.3% in the year ending June 2018, although overall inflation is 2.1%.

The ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, said “Australians need a pay rise”.

“Working people and their families are struggling to keep their heads above water,” she said. “The cost of living is going up and people are struggling.”

“We need to change the rules so that fair pay rises can meet the rising cost of living.”

The ACTU has called for an end to the system of enterprise bargaining that allows strike action only for pay increases at the workplace level in favour of a mix of options including industry-wide pay deals.

In February the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip Lowe, called on businesses to lift wages to “boost household incomes and create a stronger sense of shared prosperity”.

Despite his urging, a survey by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills found that more than half of major employers would like to freeze employees’ wages or offer below-inflation pay rises that are a cut in real terms.

In June the Fair Work Commission increased the national minimum wage by 3.5%, taking it to $18.93 per hour, but below union demands for a 7.2% increase.

The treasurer, Scott Morrison, has argued that – after a period of wages lagging behind economy-wide growth – wage growth will return to normal.

The Coalition has cited an increase in employment and wages as a key reason for its 10-year company tax cut package, although the Treasury estimates the package will boost wages at most by $750 over time.