Workers Falling Behind: Union Leaders Speak Out on Labour Day

MEDIA ALERT

1 May 2026

WHAT:

• Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Jacqueline King and other Queensland union leaders will be available for media interviews on Labour Day, calling out the growing gap between wages and the cost of living, and warning against attacks on workers' rights.

  
  

WHO:

• Jacqueline King, General Secretary, Queensland Council of Unions

• Union Leaders

  
  

WHEN:

• 9:00am, Monday 4 May 2026

  
  

WHERE:

• Cathedral Square

• Corner of Turbot and Wharf Streets, Brisbane

  
  

DETAILS:

Queensland workers are going backwards.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows workers are 4.4% worse off than five years ago, with public sector wages down 4.6% and private sector wages down 4.3% in real terms.

Union leaders will speak about the mounting pressure on working people, including:

• Soaring cost of living

• Falling real wages

• Housing affordability crisis

• The "Hands Off Our Safety" campaign, highlighting attacks on work health and safety laws and proposed changes to workers' compensation, including for psychological injuries

  
  

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY:

• Interviews available on site ahead of the 10.00 am kick off of the Brisbane Labour Day from the city to the RNA.