The ACTU says PM is MIA
“The right to healthy, safe and secure work is a fundamental human right and essential to a decent life.”
Pretty hard to argue with that sentiment, and it’s why the ACTU has taken aim at the workplace record of the current government.
Since Scott Morrison became Prime Minister there has been an 8% increase in workplace serious injuries and a 32% increase in workplace deaths, states the ACTU’s report Morrison Missing in Action on Work Health and Safety.
For education workers hung out to dry during the pandemic and subjected to never-ending workload intensification, the news on mental health will come as no surprise.
“The rapid increase in mental health injuries caused by work indicate that greater protections for workers’ psychological health are needed. Not only are mental health conditions increasing in frequency, rising to 9% of all injuries, but they are also growing in terms of severity with return to work rates climbing from 11.2 weeks (2000-01) to 26.6 weeks (2019-20).”
Mental health injury and illness at work are growing fast with claim numbers increasing by nearly 60% since the Coalition came to power. Mental health conditions now make up 9% of workers compensation claims, up from 4.9% in 2000-01.
The severity of illness is also getting worse with a typical mental health injury costing $45,900 compared to $14,500 for physical injuries and taking four times as long to recover from.
A survey conducted by the Australian Psychology Society found that 1 in 3 psychologists are unable to see new clients (up from 1 in 5 in June 2021 and 1 in 100 prior to the pandemic). Australians are typically waiting up to 3 months to access psychology services after being referred by their GP, with wait times worse in regional areas.
During the height of the pandemic, the Federal Government’s failures to provide PPE, pandemic leave, and timely vaccines and RATs revealed how out of touch Scott Morrison was and the low priority he placed on workers’ health and safety.
However, the union’s election campaign focuses as much on the economically uncertain future facing Australian workers if the wage-stagnating policies of Morrison Government continue. The announcement of inflation figures at a 20-year high reminds every worker that the lack of wage growth under eight years of Liberal rule has left them worse off.
The ACTU's first television advertisements of the election campaign blamed wage stagnation on Prime Minister Scott Morrison's inaction.
The 30-second advertisement shows a couple worried about overdue bills who try to comfort each other, while their son struggles to do his homework in the family's living area.
"We're in a cost of living crisis," the narrator says.
"Under Scott Morrison, real wages have flat-lined and last year, for the average worker, real wages actually went backwards – over $800.
"But the cost of living is skyrocketing.
"When it comes to wages, Scott Morrison has been missing in action.
"We can't afford three more years of Scott Morrison – it's time to change the government."
The “Missing in Action” angle is being repeated by the ACTU on women’s rights and job insecurity.
ACTU began its campaign with corflutes, which portrayed the PM as being "MIA", calling for a change of government rather than explicitly endorsing particular candidates.
The ACTU election campaign is based around its Secure Jobs campaign and the signage takes direct aim at the Prime Minister, reminding voters of the Hawaiian holiday he took at the end of 2019 as extreme bushfires ravaged the east coast.
ACTU president Michele O'Neil said, "Scott Morrison has been missing when Australians need him most, during the bushfires and floods, during the vaccine rollout and now during the cost of living crisis”.
"Working people are tired of a government that has looked on as wage growth has flatlined for nearly a decade," she said.
"Working people are making it clear that they won’t be bought off with one-off payments or more promises.
"We need concrete action to generate wage growth now."
Union campaigns will target 18 House of Representatives seats severely affected by insecure work and low-wage growth, in areas such as central Queensland and northern Tasmania.
The Missing in Action campaign says working people need a Federal Government that will take action to make work safe, secure, and healthy
“They need a government that will tackle the scourge of insecure work and the risks it poses to our health and safety rather than one that makes the situation worse.
“Most of all, Australians need a government that cares.”
