The FWC ruled in February that workers in the retail, hospitality and fast-food industries should have various penalty rates cut across Sundays and public holidays. I will be introducing a bill to protect penalty rates from Fair Work & restore penalty rates cut by union agreements. In addition to preserving Sunday penalty rates, Christensen's bill would also restore penalty rates "that were previously cut with the support of unions" -- referring to those rates which were traded in union negotiations. Conditions such as penalty rates can be traded for other conditions in industrial agreements, such as more holidays or higher base rates of pay. "When the Leader of the Opposition was Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union, his union negotiated enterprise agreements that reduced or removed Sunday penalty rates," Christensen said.

Source: Huffington Post May 29, 2017 02:35 UTC