ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the organisation’s survey will provide vital worker input into the roundtable meeting with the Federal Government in August. Photo: ACTU.
The ACTU has opened a poll for workers to speak their minds on experiences in the workplace relating to productivity.
The recently re-elected Federal Labor Government has made productivity a focus, hoping to remedy the nation’s lagging output.
To this end, the government is holding a roundtable meeting in August, with unions, business groups and other stakeholders invited to contribute to a national discussion regarding the government’s direction in pursuit of the productivity goal.
In the interest of representing workers, the ACTU has launched a survey so that they may speak about their personal experiences in the workplace regarding employer approaches to productivity.
“Australian unions will bring the real-world experiences of working people to the roundtable,” ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.
”For too long, the discussion on productivity has been dominated by economic models and concepts that are often out of step with real life and what actually happens in workplaces across Australia.
“Too many employers have equated productivity with cost-cutting, which has negatively affected the debate around productivity.”
Dubbed the “Workplace Truths” survey, the ACTU initiative will cover workplace issues such as technological changes, AI, collaboration, conflict in the workplace, and the ability of supervisors and managers to get the best out of their teams.
Canvassing a broad range of workers, the survey should result in a general idea of workers’ attitudes towards workloads, training opportunities, job security, and investment by employers in the mechanisms required to carry out work efficiently.
A component of the survey will also examine perspectives on the impact of work on staff health, both mental and physical, to understand what motivates employees to perform at their best.
“For too long, the perspective of workers has been missing,” Ms McManus said. ”This is why we are opening this survey up to all workers to have their say, knowing that their perspective will be represented at the roundtable and in the national discussion.”
The survey is available on the Australian Unions’ website.
