The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has joined with affiliate unions in making a submission to the Fair Work Commission asking that the ruling on cuts to Sunday penalty rates not be implemented.
If this ruling stands it will mean a cut in pay for up to 700,000 of the lowest paid workers in our country.
The ACTU called on the Commission to either make no orders to implement the decision or to delay implementation and phase it in over as long a period as possible.
Quotes attributable to ACTU President Ged Kearney:
“The ruling handed down by the Commission last month lowered the safety net which shows the rules are not working to protect working people.”
“All the good will attempts to mitigate the impacts of this decision cannot hide the fact that this is a pay cut for working people that they do not deserve and cannot afford. We have asked the commission to not implement the decision and if that does not work we will continue to campaign for a change to the law.”
“We know from extensive polling that the majority of people oppose this decision and understand how important penalty rates are to their living standards.”
