Big business claims penalty rates and workplace rights in the era of Trump need to go.
Big business CEOs and their lawyers, none of whom would be paid less than $1 million a year are pushing for penalty rates and the right to disconnect to be abolished because “standard hours are less relevant than they used to be” and they now seem “out of kilter” with the direction of US President, Donald Trump.
The Business Council of Australia is also pressing for a Trump-style Cabinet Minister for Deregulation here in Australia to make government systems more “efficient.”
Tech billionaire, Elon Musk holds the position in the US and the Australian business lobby and individual CEOs want Australia to follow what they call the global de-regulation trend coming out of the US.
The National Australia Bank chairman claims that it’s regulatory red tape that slows down things and “complicates life”, while another leading corporate executive has declared workers’ penalty rates are “less relevant than they used to be.”
Both penalty rates for weekends and the right to disconnect have been branded “out of kilter” with the way the world is moving, business leaders claimed following meetings in Canberra.
Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus:
“The people who are proposing that workers get their take home pay cut and work longer for no pay are the ones who are “out of kilter” with reality.
“These same people would not get out of bed for less than for less than $500 an hour. No wonder important elements of ordinary people’s take-home pay like penalty rates mean nothing to them.
“Australians need to brace for some of our richest people to be emboldened by Donald Trump and Peter Dutton’s willingness to emulate him.
“Big business CEOs are now also demanding their own Elon Musk style ‘Deregulation Minister’ who could be advised by someone like ex Qantas boss Alan Joyce on how to slash jobs and cut services.
“It is extremely concerning that Australian CEOs are now getting their policies from Mar-a-Lago in the US where Governments are run for the billionaires, by the billionaires.”
