Business groups scathing of ACTU’s renewed push for four day working week at Federal inquiry

Business groups have baulked at the Australian Council of Trade Union’s fresh push for radical changes to working conditions, describing them as tone deaf wishful thinking. The prospect of a four-day work week was immediately shot down by both the Prime Minister and Treasurer in August, before it could even be discussed at a productivity roundtable. But the ACTU used a parliamentary inquiry reviewing National Employment Standards in Melbourne on Friday — also May Day — to renew its call. The peak body, made up of 38 affiliated unions, suggested initially reducing weekly hours from 38 to 35 before phasing out the fifth day altogether, with no change to pay and conditions. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar agreed it was unreasonable to expect staff to work excessive overtime without payment. But the ACTU proposal was “wishful thinking” and “well outside the scope” of anything that could realistically result from the review. “It would be a huge cost impost on the Australian economy ... something that would be completely untenable for many, many small and medium sized businesses,” Mr McKellar told The West Australian. “It’s completely tone-deaf ... the economy is under real pressure.” Major leaps forward in productivity through emerging technologies like artificial intelligence were still a long way off - and would have to be observed at an individual enterprise level over time before becoming the minimum standard for every Australian worker, he said. “This is not the time to be trying to get in front of the curve on these things,” Mr McKellar said. ACTU president Michele O’Neil argued Australians deserved it fewer weekly working hours, citing Centre for Future Work figures showing they were currently putting in a record four and a half weeks’ of unpaid overtime each year, on average. At the same time, the gap between productivity and real wages was getting wider, she said. “Real wages would need to increase by 10 per cent to catch up to increases in productivity since 2000,” Ms O’Neil said. Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth cited research from Jobs and Skills Australia earlier this week, that in the medium term, AI was “far more likely to augment a worker’s duties, rather than fully automate them”. Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said productivity growth was the weakest in six decades, warning restrictive or inflexible workplace settings risked driving jobs and investment offshore. “Legally mandating a four day week would be the pinnacle of magic pudding economics — requiring a smaller pie and expecting it to feed the same number of mouths,” Mr Black said. Australian Industry Group pointed to its response in August, when chief executive Innes Willox described the union push as “another populist, anti-productivity thought bubble”. Ms O’Neil said trials showed a shorter work week would actually make workers more efficient, boost productivity, reduce burnout, and improve health and retention. Unions are also boldly pressing for an extra week of annual leave.