‘Wage freeze needed’ because of vaccine delays
The restaurant and cafe sector has blamed the Morrison government’s “lagging” vaccination rollout for delaying the economic recovery, citing problems to justify its call to impose a real wage cut on low-paid workers.
The restaurant and cafe sector has blamed the Morrison government’s “lagging” vaccination rollout for delaying the economic recovery, citing problems with the program to justify its call to impose a real wage cut on low-paid workers this year.
The Restaurant and Catering Industry Association said logistical challenges and public safety concerns about side-effects from certain vaccinations had hindered and substantially delayed the expected timeline for the vaccine rollout.
“The vaccination program was the foundation for the subsequent economic recovery, which has been delayed as a consequence,” the association said in a new submission to the Fair Work Commission’s minimum wage review.
The association, which represents 48,000 restaurants, cafes and catering businesses across Australia, is among employers in COVID-stressed sectors urging the commission to either impose a 12-month minimum wage freeze or delay pay increases in adversely impacted industries until next February. The association said the government’s decision to end JobKeeper “without alternative support for the beleaguered restaurant and cafe industry” and snap lockdowns in Greater Brisbane and Byron Bay had also delayed the sector’s economic bounce back.
“The expiration of commercial lease moratoriums, lagging vaccine rollout, side-effects and public health uncertainty in 2021, cessation of JobKeeper on 31 March 2021 and the looming superannuation guarantee increase on 1 July 2021 to 10 per cent make it demonstrably difficult for restaurants and cafes to survive any further increases in operating costs,” it said.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus criticised the industry’s position, saying “the recovery needs money in the hands of working people who will spend in local businesses and drive growth”.
“A freeze on the minimum wage means a pay cut in real terms for one in five working people, at a time when we need domestic spending more than ever,” she told The Australian.
“Lobbyists representing the hospitality industry are shooting themselves in the foot by arguing their customers should have less money to spend. It is disingenuous for these employers to now use the vaccine rollout to justify wage cuts.”
Unions are pushing the commission to abandon the staggered approach to pay rises taken during the pandemic and award a 3.5 per cent pay rise to all minimum-wage and award-reliant workers from July.
Commission president Iain Ross has sought the views of the Morrison government, the ACTU and employers on what action it should take in this year’s review to “deal with” its previous decision to delay rises in impacted industries until as late as February this year.
Workers in industries most affected by the pandemic, including accommodation and food services, arts, retail trade, aviation and tourism, were made to wait seven months for a 1.75 per cent wage rise.
Separately, in a highly anticipated decision on Wednesday, commission deputy president Nicholas Lake upheld childcare provider Goodstart Early Learning’s decision to sack a childcare worker for refusing to get an influenza vaccination.
Goodstart introduced a mandatory immunisation policy last year, requiring all staff get the influenza vaccination unless they had a medical condition which made it unsafe for them to receive it.
The worker said she had a “sensitive immune system” and had an allergic reaction to a influenza vaccination 11 years earlier. Goodstart found the medical certificate provided by the worker was not sufficient to support her objection to the vaccination and sacked her.
Rejecting her unfair dismissal claim, Mr Lake warned against the case being seen as having implications for COVID-19 vaccinations in workplaces.
“I note that curiosity surrounding vaccination is at an unnatural high; protection against COVID-19 is becoming a tangible reality for the population and guidance surrounding how this will be administered in the workplace is scarce,” he said.
But he said his decision was “relative to the influenza vaccine in a highly particular industry”.
“This decision relates specifically to the influenza vaccination in a childcare environment.”
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