The submission to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) by hair and beauty employers arguing for a cut to penalty rates is another attack on workers’ wages at a time when wages growth has hit record lows.
Malcolm Turnbull and his Liberals support these cuts to penalty rates.
As a result of their support, millions of workers who rely on weekend penalty rates risk having their pay cut as employers continue to apply for penalty rates to be reduced across a range of other sectors.
This Easter long weekend many of the more than 8,500 workers in Bass, employed under the hospitality, restaurant, retail, fast food and pharmacy Awards have already been impacted by the cuts to penalty rates. The overwhelming evidence of those cuts has been that they have not meant greater employment but as we said, retained by the business.
The fact that the Commission is continuing to review other awards is further proof that the first round of penalty rate cuts is just the beginning of a broader assault on the take-home pay of Australian workers.
I am completely opposed to any cuts to penalty rates for Australian workers.
Penalty rates are not a luxury, they are what pay the bills and put food on the table.
At a time when wages growth has hit record lows, Malcolm Turnbull is doing everything he can to give big business a $65 billion tax cut and doing nothing to stop a pay cut for workers.
If the Prime Minister truly cared about protecting workers he could support Labor’s Bill in the Parliament, which will stop his cuts to penalty rates and protect the take-home pay for people who rely on penalty rates into the future.
ROSS HART MP FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BASS
