Over the past two days we’ve witnessed real wages barely increase:
And more importantly, real average weekly earnings registering zero growth after falling 2.1% since May 2013:
And now we are likely to get more downward pressure, with Fair Work Commission slashing penalty rates for Sunday workers, affecting literally hundreds of thousands of workers. From The SMH:
Full-time and part-time workers in retail will have their Sunday penalty rates dropped from 200 per cent to 150 per cent of their standard hourly rate, while casuals will go from 200 per cent to 175 per cent.
Hospitality employees will face a reduction in Sunday pay from 175 per cent to 150 per cent, while casual hospitality workers’ pay will remain unchanged.
Fast-food employees’ Sunday rates will go from 150 per cent to 125 per cent for full-time and part-time staff, and casuals will go from 200 per cent to 175 per cent.
Holiday penalty rates for full-time and part-time employees in hospitality and retail will also be slashed from 250 per cent, or “double-time and a half”, to 225 per cent
The pay cuts take effect from July.
…more than a million workers will face a pay cut of more than 20 per cent, or $6000 per year.
In the current environment when you’ve got rampant underemployment and casualisation, this move is unlikely to boost employment, and represents a king hit to the lower paid.
The Turnbull Government should expect some political blowback.
