Page 1210 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2016
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(1) notes:
(a) the Fair Work Commission is currently conducting a four-yearly review of penalty rates for a number of awards in the hospitality and retail sectors;
(b) the ACT Government made a submission to the review in support of penalty rates;
(c) paying workers penalty rates for working during the weekend and public holidays benefits the local economy in the long term by increasing disposable incomes;
(d) penalty rates compensate workers for anti-social hours and time away from family and friends on days and during hours when most workers are enjoying recreational time;
(e) proposing a reduction in penalty rates is effectively asking some of the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers in our community to take a pay cut;
(f) the ACT Government legislated on 17 November 2015 to make Easter Sunday a public holiday every year from 2016 and ensure that all workers receive appropriate penalty rates; and
(g) a number of current and former senior Liberal Party parliamentarians have recently expressed their support for a reduction in penalty rates;
(2) reaffirms:
(a) its commitment to the lowest paid workers in the ACT community; and
(b) its support for the maintenance of the current penalty rate system; and
(3) calls on:
(a) the Fair Work Commission to maintain the current penalty rate system; and
(b) the Federal Government to cease its attack on penalty rates and the workers of the ACT and Australia.
Penalty rates have long protected family time and the tradition of the great Australian weekend. Penalty rates compensate Australian workers for after-hours work and overtime. For over 100 years they have incentivised irregular hours of work and compensated working families for time apart when others are enjoying recreational time. It is a fact that working on a Tuesday afternoon is vastly different from working on a Sunday night.
Protection of workers’ rights is one of the key issues by which the two major political parties in Australia distinguish themselves from each other. On this side of politics we believe in appropriate pay for workers. This means accepting that some hours are
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