2017-02-24
The Greens today delivered a stern warning to WA Labor not to follow Barnett’s stance to wind back penalty rates should they win the March election, and will hold them to account in the next Parliament should they win.
Greens industrial relations spokesperson Alison Xamon said people who work in hospitality and service industries are often highly dependent on these penalty rates in order to have a livable wage.
“The Greens absolutely condemn Colin Barnett’s announcement that he intends to follow the decision by the Fair Work Commission to remove penalty rates for people who work on weekends,” she said.
“It is outrageous at a time of economic down turn, when people are struggling to deal with the cost of living that the Premier is threatening to drive wages down further.
“The Greens will stridently oppose any removal or reduction of penalty rates.”
Ms Xamon said the Greens were always opposed to the introduction of WorkChoices and also raised significant concern at the time about the transition to the Fair Work Commission.
“What we are seeing now is the outcome of Labor’s appalling decision not to completely wind back WorkChoices,” Ms Xamon said.
“The Greens continue to be the only consistent voice calling for the protection of weekend workers, whose employment conditions are often tenuous and vulnerable.”
Ms Xamon warned that cutting penalty rates could only prop up the profits of businesses at the expense of workers.
“I sincerely doubt we are going to see an increase in employment, we will just see more underpaid workers” she said.
“Weekends are still considered time away from family and workers should and need to be compensated for that.”