“Work’s important, but so is the rest of your life”: ACTU president welcomes four-day work week trial

ACTU President Michele O’Neil delivered an address to the National Press Club of Australia yesterday, continuing the call for a national energy transition authority in this year’s budget. Her speech covered the role workforces and trade unions must play in decarbonising the economy, the opportunities this would create for jobs and the economy, and the need for just transitions so communities reliant on carbon-intense industries aren’t left behind.

In question time at the speech’s conclusion, Tess Ikonomou, a federal politics reporter from the Australian Associated Press, pitched a question about a four-day work week trial backed by a parliamentary committee.

“I think it’s a great idea”, O’Neil said.

“Eight hours rest, eight hours work, eight hours play, was there for a good reason,” she said, “but so much of what’s happened is we’ve moved away from that and we see extraordinarily high levels of people working long hours that they’re not always paid for, pressure on families.” She also mentioned a recent study that showed 50 percent of workers were highly stressed because of the pace and requirements of work.

“That means there’s something not working here.

“We should, in a country like this one, be able to have another look at this and say ‘well, how do we get it right?'”

O’Neil mentioned trials around the world, which have improved productivity, improved workers’ wellbeing and improved retention–– “because it’s healthier and a better balance.”

Four-day work week trials

Indeed, the results of a recent UK trial confirmed an increase in revenue, a decrease in staff attrition, positive benefits for mental health, and an overwhelming majority of companies in the trial planning to continue on with the four-day setup.

Earlier this month, an Australian trial gained bipartisan support, with a new Senate report calling on the federal government to test the scheme.

“I’m not saying we know how to do it, or that it’s an automatic ‘this should all happen overnight’, but I really welcome the idea that there’s more trials,” O’Neil continued.

“Because for working people, work’s important, but so is the rest of your life.”