tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5873160920540394292.post5138985152157009..comments2023-10-31T00:30:11.189+11:00Comments on The Bureau of Counterpropaganda: Creating jobsErnie Halfdramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06463362099448607727noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5873160920540394292.post-16562367683986571562007-06-08T10:40:00.000+10:002007-06-08T10:40:00.000+10:00It has become clear to me that the political point...It has become clear to me that the political point I was making in my statistical analysis isn't clear. I'll do a table for three quarters of 12 month figures from Sept 06 to March 07, adding the Consumer Price Index (ABS Cataloge #6401.0) for comparison:<BR/><BR/> CPI AWE WPI<BR/>3rd Qtr 3.9 3.1 3.8<BR/>4th Qtr 3.3 3.0 4.0<BR/>1st Qtr 2.3 3.4 4.1<BR/><BR/>Comparing the rise in the CPI with the rise in wages, it shows that Average Weekly Earnings are now rising marginally faster than prices, because of a dramatic fall in inflation in the last 6 months. Until then, it had been behind. The Wage Price Index, however, had been level with inflation and has now pulled well ahead.<BR/><BR/>When put in the context of the rapid rise in employment in Australia and the fall in unemployment, it means that the new jobs are mostly in low-paying sectors of the economy. Further, since both AWE & the WPI are rising more slowly than nominal GDP per capita, the profit share of national income is booming and has reached record levels.<BR/><BR/><B>From the point of view of the bosses, Howard's Work Choices legislation is working.</B> This is my political point. The economy's growing & so is their share of it. Further, inflation is not a major threat in their eyes.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, the fall in unemployment is a fall in the reserve army of labour. You'll notice that there is a slow upward movement in both AWE & the WPI. We are getting into a better objective position for struggle than we've had in decades. What's missing is the subjective element. We have to go on the front foot and actually take on the bosses. They aren't in a position to resist a major wage push, both from the perspective of supply (a shortage of workers) and demand (the missed opportunity for profits while production is ceased - their margins are so high now that even giving us a larger wage rise won't cause them losses).<BR/><BR/>Of course, the ACTU would have none of this. Doing it, therefore, would require a major assault by workers on the trade union bureacracy. I'm doing my bit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5873160920540394292.post-67592289222867154702007-06-06T23:40:00.000+10:002007-06-06T23:40:00.000+10:00According to Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, F...According to Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, Feb 2007 (ABS Catalogue #6302.0), Full Time Adult Ordinary Time Earnings rose by 3.4% from 12 months previously.<BR/><BR/>Interestingly, the same table says that All Employees Total Earnings rose by 4.4% in the same period. I suspect the difference would be caused by a decrease in the proportion of part-time workers, since I seem to recall most employment growth in the last year or so has been in full time jobs.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, Labour Price Index, Australia, March 2007 (ABS Catalogue #6345.0), which tracks hourly rates of pay (excluding bonuses) for a given job over time, gives a rise in the Wage Price Index of 4.1% for the previous 12 months.<BR/><BR/>The discrepancy between the AWE figure of 3.4% and the WPI of 4.1% can best be explained by higher job creation in low-wage sectors of the economy. There's probably a good story in there, investigating what that means in terms of who's getting what sort of jobs where and why.<BR/><BR/>Of course, the bosses would have their own explanations, but we need a reputable labour movement study. The bosses' reasoning is so transparently self-serving that if they said the sun rose in the East, I'd want to get up early just to check.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com