Pharmacy Daily | PPA reps join unions at Jobs Summit

EMPLOYEE pharmacists' union, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) will be represented by Professionals Australia at this week's Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra.

Professionals Australia CEO, Jill McCabe, said the summit provided an opportunity to address declining real wages.

"We're proud to be representing Australia's hard-working pharmacists at the Summit, and will join other unions, employers, civil society, and government to discuss the challenges facing Australia and ways to build a well-trained and productive workforce, deliver secure, well-paid jobs and create opportunities for all Australians," she said.

"We'll be advocating for policies and reforms that deliver stronger employment opportunities and outcomes for our members working in a range of professions and sectors.

"We believe that the Jobs and Skills Summit provides an opportunity to review Australia's bargaining system following significant workplace changes and a sustained decline in real wages over the past decade.

"The bargaining system has become overly complex and inaccessible to many workers -- including for many of our members working in small workplaces."

The interests of community pharmacy owners are set to be represented through the Pharmacy Guild of Australia's membership of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, whose CEO, Alexi Boyd, has been listed on the list of participants.

Confirmation that the PPA will be represented at the summit came after Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) National President, Dr Fei Sim, said the organisation had not been asked to attend the event, and voiced frustration that representatives of the pharmacy sector had not been invited to attend the Minister for Health and Aged Care's Health Workforce Summit (PD 30 Aug).

Speaking at the PSA's National Conference in Sydney in Jul, Sim described the current Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 pay rates as embarrassing (PD 03 Aug).