MORRISON’S $220 BOXING DAY PAY CUT FOR RETAIL WORKERS

ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
MEMBER FOR GRAYNDLER

TONY BURKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR WATSON

Scott Morrison wants this Boxing Day to be the last that workers are guaranteed penalty rates and pay loadings.

Under Mr Morrison’s nasty industrial relations changes a typical retail worker could be hit with a $220 Boxing Day pay cut.

Boxing Day is a holiday for many people but it’s one of the busiest days of the year for retail workers.

These workers – like all workers – deserve extra compensation for working on a public holiday.

But under Mr Morrison’s scheme to scrap the Better Off Overall Test a part-time level 3 retail worker aged over 21 could see their hourly Boxing Day rate slashed from $50.09 this year to $22.26 next year, according to the Fair Work Commission’s pay calculator.

So instead of earning $400 for working 9am to 5pm they would earn just $178.

These sorts of cuts could occur across the Australian economy. No private sector worker would be safe from Mr Morrison’s pay cut.

This pay cut is Scott Morrison’s Christmas present to the workers who got us through the pandemic.

The cleaners, the retail workers, the truck drivers, the childcare workers and the aged care staff – they put themselves at risk to get Australia through this crisis. But they could all lose take home pay under Mr Morrison’s scheme.

If you abolish something called the Better Off Overall Test, guess what will happen - workers will be worse off.

Scott Morrison’s penalty rate cuts for retail, fast food, pharmacy and hospitality workers failed to deliver a single extra job. Even business groups now admit that. But now they want us to believe that cutting more penalty rates, cutting overtime, cutting shift loading, cutting allowances will create jobs?

Pay cuts are bad for workers and bad for the economy. For Australia to recover from the recession we need people with the money and confidence to spend.

The government says the economy is doing well enough that businesses no longer need JobKeeper. But then they say the economy is doing so badly they need to cut the pay of workers. They can't have it both ways.

Australian workers know they cannot trust a Liberal Government with their wages and conditions.

SATURDAY, 26 DECEMBER 2020