We stand up, we fight back: Sally McManus

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus called for an historic $45-a-week increase to the minimum wage during a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday. She also reiterated her belief that when laws are unjust, she doesn’t see a problem with breaking them.

“Australia’s workplace laws are broken.

Our minimum wage has fallen to a dangerously low level.

This is why today the ACTU will be making a claim to increase the minimum wage. Significantly. Wage theft is a new business model for too many employers.

Inequality in our country is the worst it has been for 70 years and 679 of our biggest corporations pay not one cent of tax.

Our strike laws are out of step with international law.

Our bargaining laws are inadequate and unable to deal with the new and ever changing business models being adopted by the big end of town.

Now, the Fair Work Commission makes decisions to cut the wages and conditions of some of our lowest paid workers. And the mechanisms we have had to improve our living standards are no longer working.

In short, the very wealthy have too much power in our country and ordinary Australians – working people – do not have enough.”

Read the full speech here.

Watch the speech here.