ACTU secretary Sally McManus (centre) said collective bargaining was the engine room of wage growth for union members. Photo: ACTU.
New wage data released by the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations indicates that Australians are on collective agreements in record numbers and as a result are securing stronger wage growth outcomes.
The March 2025 Trends in Enterprise Bargaining report shows that employees covered by collective bargaining agreements grew to the highest number on record at 2.67 million, up from the March 2024 figure of 2.14 million.
Employees covered under a union-negotiated agreement received an average annualised wage rise of 3.8 per cent, well above the inflation rate of 2.4 per cent and far higher than the 3.2 per cent for employees on non-union contracts.
Leading the way were the administrative and support services, with an average increase in pay of 6.3 per cent, followed by the construction industry at 5.5 per cent and retail at 4.6 per cent.
These increases mark the sixth consecutive quarter of real wage growth for employees on collectively bargained agreements.
“Collective bargaining is the engine room of wages growth and union members have fired up that engine, delivering substantial real wage increases,” ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.
”The wage increases union members are winning outstrip those who do not have a collective agreement or where a union was not involved in negotiating the agreement.”
The ACTU also added in the same statement that, according to ABS data, union members earned $251 a week more than non-union members, about $1600 compared to $1349 for non-union members.
“A record number of people are coming together to win higher wages, which aligns with the historically high surge in union membership recorded by the ABS,” Ms McManus said.
”People are turning to unions because sticking together and acting collectively gets results. The facts are that more Australians, especially young people, are joining unions and union members are earning more money.”
