If Scott Morrison and the Liberals are elected on 18 May, cuts to penalty rates will leave workers up to $26,000 worse off.
Cuts since 2017 have left low paid Australian workers under the retail, hospitality, fast food, restaurant and pharmacy awards thousands of dollars worse off.
A pharmacy worker will lose up to $7,000 next year (2019-20) and up to $26,000 over the next three years.
When everything is going up except people’s wages, the last thing that workers need is another cut to their take-home pay.
Scott Morrison voted in support of the penalty rate cuts eight times.
Just imagine how much further these cuts could spread if the Liberals are re-elected.
It says everything you need to know about the Liberals that they’re cutting workers’ wages but giving millionaires an $11,000 a year tax cut.
Penalty rates are not a luxury – they help people put food on the table and petrol in the car. They can be the difference in paying the electricity bill, health costs or child care costs – all of which keep soaring under this government.
Labor understands how important penalty rates are to working Australians.
If elected, we will legislate to reverse the cuts to penalty rates in our first 100 days.
And we will change the law to make sure they can’t be cut for anyone again.
Only Labor has a plan to make the economy work for all Australians. We are prioritising better wages, cost-of-living relief and reversing Scott Morrison’s cuts to services Australians rely on, including schools and hospitals.
In addition to reversing cuts to penalty rates, Labor will protect Australians from unfair labour hire practices, so that workers doing the same job get the same pay, and we will act on insecure work and unfair working conditions.
This election is a choice between Labor’s plan to restore penalty rates, or bigger tax loopholes for the top end of town under the Liberals.
After six years of Liberal cuts and chaos, our united Labor team is ready to deliver a fair go for all Australians.
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