Australian unions are making the case for shorter work weeks for all Australians.
Our national union, the Australian Services Union (ASU), will this week front a parliamentary inquiry reviewing the National Employment Standards (NES).
The 'Centre for Future Work' assessed that on average, workers are putting in roughly four and a half weeks of unpaid overtime into their jobs every year. That's time taken from families and a life outside of work.
At the inquiry, the ASU and other Unions will push for the standard working week to come down from 38 to 35 hours, with the option for a four-day week where possible and sector-specific alternatives where it's not. However, this must not come at the expense of lost pay. Unions will also push for no cuts to pay, penalty rates, overtimes, or minimum staffing requirements.
As part of the review of national employment standards, unions will also press for workers to secure an extra week of annual leave, to counter both rising work pressures and the high rates of unpaid overtime Australians regularly perform.
In what would be the first significant change since the mid-1970s, unions will press for an extra week of annual leave – up from 4 to 5 weeks per year – and from 5 to 6 weeks for regular shift workers.
The extra annual leave would help to make up for the 4.5 weeks of extra free unpaid leave Australian workers perform on average, according to the Centre for Future Work.
An extra week of annual leave would allow Australian workers to live happier, healthier and more balanced lives.
This push has not come from nowhere. Trials across the world have shown that shorter hours boost productivity, reduce burnout and improve retention. Reduced working hours come up time and again in workplace conversations, because workers know the extraordinary benefits it would have on both employees and their employers.
A national win like this could only happen with workers organised and engaged. The best way to get involved in a national campaign like this is to become a member of your Union. Australian workers gain power when they work collectively to make change.
If you're already a member, have the conversation with someone who isn't. Ask them what they would do with an extra day free a week. Every conversation you have with a colleague about what their working life could look like builds the foundation for future action.
The evidence is there. What's missing is the political will to make the change possible, and that only comes when workers push together.
