Last monthâs decision by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), the Australian governmentâs industrial tribunal, to slash weekend and public holiday wages in the hospitality, pharmacy, retail and fast food industries has prompted widespread anger among workers and young people.
In response, the Labor Party and the trade unions have postured as opponents of the ruling. However, it was a Labor government that created the pro-business FWC and included penalty rates in a list of award entitlements to be âreviewed,â i.e., slashed. And the unions have already established a host of agreements with major employers that cut, or entirely eliminate, penalty wages (see: âAustralian unions and Labor Party launch bogus campaign over penalty rate cutsâ).
A number of young workers who spoke to the WSWS said they have never received penalty rates and are victims of union-company wage slashing deals. Others commented on their hostility to Labor, which is widely reviled as a party of big business.
Raymond, a 19-year-old student in Newcastle who has done casual work, said: âItâs horrible. Young people struggle already. Itâs hard to find a job here, and when you cut wages back even more, itâs leaving no leeway. We have to work harder and this cuts time to study. Itâs a big train smashing down young people. Itâs going to force them out of university.â
âThere has been a greater increase in costs for housing and bills in the last five years than in any other period. Iâm not working on Sundays anymore, but when I did, I used some of that extra money to pay for my bills, food and petrol. I think the situation will lead to what is happening in America, where the minimum wage is extremely low.â
David, a student and part-time cleaner in Newcastle, commented: âIt says a lot to me about Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and the Labor Party in general that they created the Fair Work Commission, which is basically getting rid of penalty rates. Workers just keep getting betrayed by Labor.
âIf [Labor leader] Bill Shorten is the one who originally proposed the Fair Work review into penalty rates, then how can Labor pretend to wage a campaign against this decision?â
David noted: âSome workers are losing up to $70 a day if they are working certain shifts. With that you lose a lot; groceries, petrol, bills, possibly even rent. Itâs going to make it a lot harder to get by.â
Jake, a young chef in Brisbane, said: âI work a six-day week of 60 to 90 hours and I rely on weekend pay. Sunday and Saturday rates are important because thatâs what our whole week is focused on.
âI only get paid a base rate of around $14 an hour, so cuts to penalty rates could take up to a third of my weekend pay. I get $1,200 a week, then $300 goes to tax, then I could lose $200 from the cut to penalty rates. It would leave me just $700 a week.â
Jake was struck by the hypocrisy of the Labor Party. âLabor and Liberal are on the same side,â he said. âLabor created the conditions for these cuts and the Liberals are upholding it. In the last election, I did not vote because there was no socialist party, so I had to pay a fine. I know the Greens are not there for me. Labor and Liberal are not there for me. I want a socialist party.â
Danny, a 16-year-old high school student who works for a fast food chain in Sydneyâs western suburbs, said: âWhen I started, I asked about weekend penalty rates and the manager said, âNo, we donât pay that.â
âI earn $10 an hour and $5 is deducted from my pay each week for my work uniform. Workers who are under 16 get even less, and when you turn 18, you only get a few dollars more. If you were a 20-year-old living alone, you wouldnât make enough just to pay the rent.â
Asked about health and safety, he said: âThe conditions arenât up to normal standards. The hygiene is poor and there are bugs around the kitchen. Youâre expected to make food even with produce that is off and smells bad. There are a lot of things that are quite dangerous. You have to stick your hand under a really hot boiler to get meat out sometimes, or you can get burnt by splashing oil.â
Danny noted that while fast food workers receive abysmal wages, the major chains are among the most profitable businesses in the country. âOne time when I was there they made $11,000 in six hours,â he said. âAcross Australia they make millions of dollars. Last weekend I was sent home two hours early, because it wasnât busy and they didnât want to pay me all my hours.â
Asked about the broader political issues, Danny stated: âLabor and the unions are trying to claim they support the working class but theyâve already done deals cutting penalty rates, including for fast food workers.â
Beck, a university student and casual worker in Melbourne, said: âIâve got a few friends living out of home. It is really expensive at this age, especially having to choose between working and studying full-time. Sometimes it means you wonât have meals or be able to afford rent. Some people depend on penalty rates.â
Asked about her experiences, Beck said: âI worked every single public holiday last year, and I didnât see my family. I donât get penalty rates at all. I work in the fast food industry. I have to learn to live with that if I want to have a job.
âIâm at university every day, so I have to work whatever shifts I can get, but it doesnât add up to much. Often I have to choose between paying for travel or getting lunch. It makes no sense that working-class students have to struggle so much.â
Olivia, a 21-year-old from Melbourne, said: âIâm going to be affected by these cuts because Iâm unemployed and looking for hospitality work. Itâs so unfair. They say they want young people to be able to buy a home. But if you want to buy your own property, you have to have a high-paying job.
âNow theyâre cutting penalty rates, which affect predominantly young people. Penalty rates put a lot of people over the poverty line. At the same time theyâre giving tax cuts to these massive corporations.â
Olivia spoke about the difficulties facing young people looking for work: âItâs really difficult to break that wall of finding someone who will give you a job interview. Even with several yearsâ experience in hotels, I havenât been able to find anything.â
Asked about the Labor Party, she said: âThey have a lot of really backward positions. They like to put across an air of being more for the little guy. It would be great if we had a different choice than between these two parties, but we donât.â
Her friend, Silva, added that Labor âis not representative of ordinary people.â She expressed hostility to the new US president Donald Trump and the right-wing campaign waged during the election by his Democratic Party opponent Hillary Clinton.
Asked if she followed politics closely, Olivia said: âItâs impossible not to think about these things. At the moment, the whole issue is the rich getting richer and the poor, poorer. The only thing that makes sense at this point is to totally restructuring the system. Maybe we have to try something new, a revolution.â
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