Union demands transparency from Coalition on proposed penalty rate cuts

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is demanding that the Liberal-National Coalition clarify its stance on the proposal to cut penalty rates for workers.

Recent developments have seen major retailers – including Woolworths, Coles, Kmart, and Costco – throw their support behind an Australian Retailers Association (ARA) application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which could result in the cutting of penalty rates for workers.

This application has been criticised by workers and unions across multiple industries, claiming it will lead to a “domino effect” where cuts to penalty rates could spread to workers in other award-reliant industries, including hospitality, healthcare, fast food, and administration.

The application by the ARA – in its words – seeks to make amendments to the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (GRIA) in hopes that it will create clarity when it comes to the award.

“The ARA recognises that the current award, with 994 individual pay rates spanning 96 pages, is unnecessarily complex and misaligned with the evolving needs of the retail workforce. This leads to employees and employers struggling to understand workplace entitlements and cultivate flexibility within working arrangements,” said an ARA statement.

Despite these claims, the ACTU believes the application seeks to gut workers’ overtime rates, annual leave loading, allowances, breaks and protections around hours of work.

According to the ACTU, the FWC decision on this application would impact more than a million workers, including 360,000 permanent award-reliant workers and 660,000 workers on enterprise agreements or contracts that these awards underpin.

The union has called out opposition party representatives to assert whether or not they will allow these penalty cuts to manifest under their potential government.

Taking aim at shadow minister for employment and workplace relations Michaelia Cash, the union has claimed that the opposition party has refused to clarify if they will “rule out” penalty rate cuts for “Australia’s lowest-paid workers”.

“The Coalition’s record in office is out there for people to see,” said ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell.

“Peter Dutton voted eight times in Parliament in favour of cutting penalty rates. They appear to want cuts in penalty rates for workers and free lunches for bosses.”

“Retail workers deserve answers from our politicians on their penalty rates agenda. Michaelia Cash should stop hiding from the public and rule out any penalty rate cuts if she becomes minister. The livelihoods of working-class Australians are on the line this election.”

“Australians deserve to know whose side their politicians are on. Are they on the side of big business profiteers seeking to cut working peoples’ wages, or on the side of cost-of-living relief measures that have got wages moving again?”