Unions push for four-day work week in radical workplace relations overhaul

Unions are increasing pressure on the government to introduce a four-day working week that will not affect workers’ wages.

The radical proposal, to be presented by unions at an inquiry in Melbourne, suggests it is time to improve workers’ lives and raise their living standards.

The group said this could be achieved by initially reducing the working week from 38 to 35 hours, then eliminating the five-day week altogether and moving to a four-shift week.

Australian unions will put forward their plans at the National Employment Standards (NES) public hearing on May 1.

The NES established minimum terms and conditions of employment for all national system employees, as well as modern awards. Together they form the safety net that underpins Australia’s workplace relations system.

The plan is supported by retail workers: SDA, Australian Services Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, United Trades Union, Victorian Trades Hall Council and Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

The ACTU says workers’ wages and conditions, including penalty rates, overtime and minimum staffing levels, should not be affected by this change.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said Australians had been working long hours for some time and it was time for a change.

“Working people don’t live to work, they work to live, and the results of trials show us that giving workers more time increases productivity, reduces burnout and improves their health and retention,” he said.

Now is the time for the biggest change in employment standards since the 1970s, according to unions, as workers have not received their fair share of productivity gains and technological advances over the past five decades.

In addition, unions will argue that, as part of a review of national employment standards, workers should be given another week of annual leave to counter both increased work pressures and high rates of unpaid overtime.

This means annual leave for most Australians will increase from four weeks to five weeks, and for regular shift workers from five weeks to six weeks.

“Another way to make things fairer is to allow workers to take an extra week of annual leave so they can recover some of the unpaid overtime,” Ms O’Neil said.

“Our annual leave has been stuck at four weeks for the last 50 years, much of Europe is already starting to exceed four weeks.”