EBA coverage hits five-year high of 2.2 million

Average private sector pay rises in new agreements were 3.9 per cent in the September quarter.

Average private sector pay rises in new agreements were 3.9 per cent in the September quarter.

The number of workers covered by enterprise agreements has risen to a five-year high of 2.21 million, jumping by a net 400,000 workers over 12 months.

New Department of Employment and Workplace Relations data shows average private sector pay rises in new agreements were 3.9 per cent in the September quarter, consistent with recent trends that have had average increases hover about 4 per cent.

However, public sector pay rises over the three months fell 0.4 per cent to 3.5 per cent, dragging down the workforce average from 4 per cent to 3.6 per cent.

The public sector outcome was influenced heavily by a ­Victorian government agreement with 56,325 public servants that limited annual pay rises to 3 per cent.

The industries with the highest average annual wage increases were construction (4.9 per cent), and education and training (4.3 per cent), while the industries with the lowest increases were agriculture, forestry and fishing (2.7 per cent) and mining (2.6 per cent).

More than 930 enterprise agreements covering 341,000 employees were approved in the three-month period, with 2.21 million workers currently covered by an agreement, the highest level since June 2019. According to the department, there were 1.81 million workers covered by agreements a year earlier.

New agreements struck over the past year across the private and public sectors covered 1.26 million employees, the highest number of workers covered by new agreements in any 12-month period on record.

Two of the biggest agreements struck in the September quarter – Woolworths, covering 124,590 workers, and Telstra, covering 17,881 workers – did not have quantifiable pay rises and are not included in the broader pay data.

Pay rises for Woolworths are linked to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review and pay rises for Telstra workers are performance based.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the data showed the government was continuing to deliver real wage increases for more Australians, as workers and employers worked together to sign more enterprise agreements.

“This is the fourth consecutive quarter that wages growth in enterprise agreements outpaced inflation, meaning more money in people’s pockets in the lead-up to Christmas,” Senator Watt said.

“This is timely news to receive at the end of the year, when many Australians are facing cost-of-­living pressures.”

Union agreements reached in the September quarter had an average wage increase of 3.7 per cent compared to 3.1 per cent for non-union agreements.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the data confirmed that workers on a union-led collective agreement got better conditions, more job security and real wages growth.

“It’s the trifecta win for sticking together in the workplace. Union members are $250 better off per week, on average, than non-union members,” she said.

Senator Watt said since the government changed the workplace laws, “we’ve seen more agreements reached between employers, unions and workers than we have seen for years”.

“Our government has delivered two big tranches of significant industrial relations reform that have reinvigorated enterprise bargaining,” he said.

“Each of these changes we introduced was opposed by Peter Dutton and the Coalition, with them now promising to roll back these laws – and the pay rises that come with them – if they are elected next year.”