Melbourne pollie’s hilarious smackdown letter over penalty rates

“I RANG last Saturday, and again on Sunday, but there was no answer.” MP sends hilarious letter to industry boss, drops mic.

A VICTORIAN pollie has issued the ultimate smackdown to the hospitality industry’s campaign to slash Sunday penalty rates, with a hilarious letter that drives home the argument that weekends are sacred.

Kelvin Thomson MP, the Federal Labor member for Wills, could not resist the opportunity to make his point in a cheeky letter to Restaurant & Catering Industry Association boss John Hart.

In response to Mr Hart’s letter to parliamentarians seeking support for the push to equalise Saturday and Sunday pay rates for waiters, baristas and bartenders, Mr Thomson wrote:

“Your letter referred to changing social norms around weekend shopping times, a reduction in religious observance and a softening of trading hour restrictions.

“The letter gave me the phone number of your Public Affairs Manager and invited me to contact him to discuss these issues and your Association’s campaign. So I did. I rang last Saturday, and again on Sunday, but there was no answer.

“Perhaps there is still some magic left in Saturdays and Sundays after all.”

The PR guru in question was Justin Wastnage of Message Shapers, retained by the association with a brief to “raise the public profile of the Sunday penalty rates issue through public relations, social media and government relations strategies”.

Mr Wastnage told news.com.au he had no knowledge of a telephone call from Mr Thomson.

“I didn’t receive a voicemail, and I have no way of knowing whether he did or didn’t call,” he said, declining to comment further.

While media relations professionals are known to take calls on weekends, Mr Wastnage has a variety of clients on his books and is understood to have a largely nine-to-five brief with Restaurant & Catering.

Kelvin Thomson on the line.

Mr Thomson, who announced on Tuesday that he does not plan to contest his seat at the next election, told news.com.au he had phoned a landline number provided in Mr Hart’s letter, and there was no opportunity to leave a voicemail.

“I wasn’t planning to support the campaign, but I was willing to discuss it,” he said.

“They gave us a name and number to call ... I couldn’t leave a message, it just rang out.”

“As I said in the letter, I think there is some magic to Saturdays and Sundays,” Mr Thomson said.

“I don’t believe the argument that we live in a 24 hour economy so it’s okay to make people work unusual hours without paying them appropriately.”

He said while politicians worked outside normal hours, they were well paid for doing so, unlike the baristas and bar staff who relied on penalty rates.

“I go to things on the weekends and at night and there are people who ring me up on weekends,” Mr Thomson said.

“But we are well paid ... I’m aware that there are other people who’d like to be the Member for Wills and would be perfectly happy to work on nights and weekends.”

He said the 7 Eleven wage scandal had highlighted the fact that there were plenty of workers willing to step in and work for less if protections were removed and that, disturbingly, this happened even with penalty rates in place.

Who says pollies don’t have a sense of humour?

Mr Hart said in a statement that his letter had received “many replies from politicians from both major parties as well as the cross bench”.

“It’s encouraging to see so many MPs, including Mr Thomson, take an active interest in the issue at a time when youth unemployment in regional Australia is rising”.

“The More Jobs, More Shifts, More Choice campaign highlights the employment opportunities associated with harmonising Sunday rates with those applying on Saturday. A recent survey found that 68 per cent of restaurants and cafes would invest in training, 52 per cent would hire additional staff and 41 per cent would open longer hours if the weekend pay rate were equalised to the Saturday.”

Mr Hart said many cafes and restaurants either closed or scaled back staffing to counter higher wage bills on Sundays, when pay rates could be as much as 75 per cent higher.

He said the proposed new weekend pay rate would allow business to employ more workers on Sundays and kickstart regional employment.

“We welcome Mr Thomson’s raising of the important issue that some workers face of not being correctly paid penalty rates on Sundays,” Mr Hart added.

“Restaurant & Catering Australia has been vocal in its calls for an end to cash-in-hand payments and we believe the application of a single weekend pay rate would lessen the incentive some operators have to pay outside of their legal requirements.”

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