Myer boss out of touch on penalty rates

MEDIA RELEASE: 10 December 2015: Workers are aghast at Myer boss Richard Umbers’ claims that a whole generation of workers don’t care about penalty rates.

At an event yesterday, the Chief Executive of the retailer claimed that “millennials” find penalty rates “restrictive.”

SDA – the union for retail, fast food and warehouse workers – National Secretary, Gerard Dwyer said it is offensive to suggest that workers would want their take-home pay cut.

“To suggest that workers don’t want to be paid fairly is absolutely ridiculous and, frankly, offensive,” Mr Dwyer said.

“It beggars belief that the community somehow thinks the weekend is old fashioned. If Australians were asked to vote on abolishing weekend rates we know – and retailers know – what the answer would be.

“’Flexibility, control and work life balance’ is not advanced by cutting penalty rates for working unsociable hours.

“While Myer workers are currently working harder than ever to keep Christmas shoppers happy, their Sunday and public holiday pay needs to reflect what they are giving up on these days to serve the community across the Christmas trading period.

“Penalty rates aren’t just the icing on the cake for some workers, they’re the bread and butter. It doesn’t matter what age they are, many people rely on them on penalty rates to make ends meet.

“A cut to penalty rates is a cut to take-home pay. You’d struggle to find an employee out there who would rather be paid less.

“All retail workers deserve to be paid fairly for keeping the stores running across ever increasing hours. There will be some very upset employees out there today waking up to news that retailers are again urging a cut to penalty rates.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Alana Mew, 0419 929 722