This article is part of a series on social classes in Australia, which also includes pieces on the working class and the middle class.
This article is part of a series on social classes in Australia, which also includes pieces on the ruling class and the middle class.
This article is part of a series on social classes in Australia, which also includes pieces on the working class and the ruling class.
When all the bullshit about this election is cleared away, the contest comes down to a choice between two parties committed to cutting workers’ wages.
Australian workers’ living standards declined by about $800 last year and will go backwards by another $2,000 in the first half of this year, according to the Australian Council of Trade Unions. If current trends continue, workers will be $4,000 worse off by Christmas.
The federal budget includes measures that the government says will ease the “cost of living squeeze”, but which will do nothing to offset years of stagnant wages. In response, the ALP is offering next to nothing and the unions are refusing to fight.