Labor leader Bill Shorten fights to stop penalty rate decision
LABOR leader Bill Shorten will introduce a bill this morning to stop a Fair Work Commission ruling that cuts penalty rates.
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THE federal parliament is set to start the final two sitting weeks before the May budget the way it finished the last time MPs were in Canberra — debating penalty rates.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will introduce a bill to parliament first thing this morning to stop a decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut Sunday penalty rates for some hospitality, retail and fast food workers.
Greens MP Adam Bandt has a similar bill among the private member bills which usually kick-off the parliamentary week.
BIG CHANGES: What penalty rate cuts mean for you
The Fair Work Commission’s decision to align Sunday penalty rates with Saturday comes at a time of flat wages growth across the economy.
Mr Shorten told a rally in Melbourne on Sunday stripping back penalty rates was part of a wider attack on the living standards of ordinary Australians.
“If the Liberals and Mr Turnbull get away with cutting penalty rates, it is the thin edge of the wedge for the living standards and conditions of all working Australians,” he said.
Small businesses like @Velo_Cycles recognise the importance of penalty rates - why can't Malcolm Turnbull? pic.twitter.com/ykDt5mSS7l
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) March 15, 2017
The commission has yet to determine how the ruling should be implemented.
Last week the Australian Retailers Association proposed a two-stage approach — reducing permanent and casual employees’ rates to 175 per cent from 200 per cent from July, and then to 150 per cent rates for permanent employees from July next year.
Originally published as Labor leader Bill Shorten fights to stop penalty rate decision
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