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Home > Campaigns > Protect Retail Workers' Rights

Protect Retail Workers' Rights


Retail employers are proposing cutting wages by 10 per cent and scrapping penalty rates.

Joe Hockey thinks that workers need to work at 3 am without any penalty rates as compensation to compete with online retail.

What do you think? Tell talk back radio and write letters to editors

The National Retail Association is applying to change retailer workers’ conditions to:

  • Cut wages by 10%.  
  • Scrap all penalty rates on Saturdays and for late night work; and
  • Reduce penalty rates on Sundays.
If they can cut pay and penalty rates for retail workers, who’s next?

What Joe Hockey, the National Retail Association and a host of other employers in a co-ordinated campaign are seeking would undermine the minimum safety net that protects all workers.

Blaming retail workers for the woes in the retail industry is flawed logic. Employers in the sector are using the challenge of online retailing as an excuse to bring back WorkChoices by stealth.

Show your support for retail workers by writing letters to the editors and calling talk back radio.

Retail workers earn a minimum $17.03 an hour (less than $34,000 a year) with junior workers earning even less, as little as $7.67 an hour; they do not deserve to have their pay cut by 10% and their penalty rates slashed in some race to the bottom.

We need your help.

Take action and let everyone know that this attack on over one million retail workers is unjustified.

Read more about this issue:
Blaming retail workers for the woes in the retail industry is flawed logic
Retailers loose with the truth about the state of their industry

Ways to support the campaign

You can support the campaign to Protect Retail Workers' Rights by writing a letter to the editor and calling talkback radio.

Write a Letter to the Editor

If you write a letter to the editor, remember keep it short and to the point - if it's less than 150 words, it's far more likely to be published! Also make sure you put your contact details into your email - they will not be published but they are vital to allow the paper contact you and confirm your letter.

Adelaide Advertiser: submit letters at www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/news/opinion/sendletter
The Age: email letters to letters@theage.com.au
The Australian: email letters to letters@theaustralian.com.au
Australian Financial Review: email letters to edletters@afr.com.au
Canberra Times: email letters to letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au
The Courier Mail: submit letters at www.news.com.au/couriermail/editorial/letter
The Daily Telegraph: email letters to letters@dailytelegraph.com.au
The Herald Sun: submit letters at www.news.com.au/heraldsun/editorial/letter
Hobart Mercury: submit letters at www.themercury.com.au/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-submit.html
Sydney Morning Herald: email letters to letters@smh.com.au
The West Australian: email letters to letters@wanews.com.au


Here's a sample letter to help get the creative juices flowing. Remember to make sure you use your own words; Editors will be able to spot a form letter.

Dear xx,

I find it disgraceful that employers in the retail sector are suggesting that the solution to the competitive pressures they face from online retailing is to slash the wages and conditions of their workforce.

At a basic wage of $17 an hour, retail workers are already among the lowest paid in the workforce, and it is abhorrent to suggest that their pay should be cut to increase profits.

That is exactly what groups like the National Retailers Association are proposing following a recent Productivity Commission report into the sector.

This group wants to cut entry level wages by 10%, scrap all penalty rates on Saturdays and at nights, and reduce the Sunday penalty rate.

Retail is a profitable sector of the Australian economy, but it is well accepted that the high value of the Australian dollar, combined with a consumer shift towards online shopping has posed challenges for the retail sector.

The Productivity Commission has also identified factors including the high cost of real estate, transport and utilities, and competition within the sector as major obstacles.

But retailers need to look long and hard at themselves, rather than point the finger at their employees.

Punishing workers, who are not the cause of these challenges, will not solve the problems faced by the sector.

I, for one, do not do not support a ‘race to the bottom’ approach that would see Australian workers paid wages and conditions of those in developing countries.

It shows an utter contempt for their workers for retail employers to be advocating cutting their wages. When will the greedy, self-interested profit grabbing by Australian business at the expense of its workforce end?

It is basic economics that cutting wages will only stifle consumer demand, causing far more problems for the retail sector.

Regards,

 

Contact Talkback Radio

Another way you can support the campaign is to call talkback radio. We've compiled a list of contact details for talkback radio around Australia.

Australia-wide
ABC NewsRadio - 13 9994
ABC Radio National - (02) 8333 2821
 
ACT
ABC Canberra (666AM) - 1300 681 666
 
NSW
ABC Newcastle (1233AM) - 1300 233 222
ABC Sydney (702AM) - 1300 222 702
2GB (873AM) - 131 873
2UE (954AM) - (02) 9930 9954
2SER (107.3FM) - (02) 9514 9514
2SM (1269AM) - 13 12 69
FBI (94.5FM) - (02) 8332 2999
vega (95.3FM) - 13 25 10
2NUR (103.7FM) - (02) 4921 5000
 
SA
ABC Adelaide (891AM) - 1300 222 891
FiveAA (1395AM) - (08) 8223 0000
Fresh (92.7FM) - 1300 7 FRESH
Radio Adelaide (101.5FM) - (08) 8303 5000
 
TAS
ABC Hobart (936AM) - 1300 222 936
7HO (101.7FM) - (03) 6216 1017
 
NT
ABC Alice Springs (783AM) - 1300 019 783
ABC Darwin (105.7FM) - 1300 057 222
 
QLD
ABC Brisbane (612AM) - 1300 222 612
 
WA
6PR (882AM) - (08) 9221 1882
ABC Perth (720AM) - 1300 222 720
RTR (92.1FM) - (08) 9260 9210
 
VIC
3AW (693AM) - (03) 9690 0693
3CR (855AM) - (03) 9419 0155
ABC Melbourne (774AM) - 1300 222 774
JOY (94.9FM) - (03) 9699 2949
PBS (106.7FM) - (03) 8415 1067
SYN - (03) 9925 9907
RRR (102.7FM) - (03) 9388 1027

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Comments

  • Charles Costello at 11/08/2011 4:12:34 PM

    The problems I have with this issue are (a) the provision of double pay Sunday penalty rates made sense in an era when at least 50 % of the population went to some form of Sunday church service and families shared a Sunday roast meal. That era is long gone. The secularisation of our society has meant that Sunday is now just another day; and (b) the payment of penalty rates is a disincentive for many small businesses to employ youngsters as casuals. Thus, young people are being denied valuable work experiences and real life skill development.

  • Peter Sanders at 11/08/2011 5:10:29 PM

    Sorry Charles, I can't believe anyone can honestly support the abolition of penalty rates. Who, except for you, would happily be forced to work in the middle of the night for no extra.
    I find it disgusting that politicians who are over compensated for everthing they do (travel, stamps, stationary, living away from home, early access to super, "study" tours, comm cars etc) could somehow support these moves. Perhaps this is the type of demoralising of the working classes that has led to some of the problems being seen in England at the moment.

  • steve lawley at 11/08/2011 5:22:19 PM

    Seems to me this campaign is aimed at the big retailers, not the small guys. It's crazy to take away peoples' penalty rates. These things are a way of compensating people for missing out on time with family or having what some may consider a normal life.

    Clearly cutting pay is just down right mean-spirited. I wonder if the bosses running the National Retail Association would take a 10% cut in pay. I'm sure that would have a desired effect of balancing the ledger out a little more and making them more competitive. Maybe the CEOs should look to cut the fat from their clearly underperforming senior and middle managements they employ.

    Plus this kind of thing will only lead to further economic woes. If people can't afford to pay basic living costs then they won't be out shopping and buying from the retailers. The suggestions by the National Retailers Association are evidence these peoples' management styles are firmly rooted in 1980s thinking of mass redundancies equals fixing the budget. This didn't work in the 80s and it won't work now.

    Being competitive doesn't mean screwing the workforce you rely on to keep the dollars coming through the doors.

    I can't for the life of me understand why people think it's okay to reduce penalty rates? When this starts happening it won't be too long before employers start taking away other conditions.

  • Jessica Sichter at 13/08/2011 9:14:26 PM

    I wrote a letter to the editor about this for The Courier Mail and my Dad told me that it made it in! I haven't sighted the published version but here's what I sent in (hopefully they didn't edit it):

    "I work in retail, in a pet supplies store. Not because I'm dumb or
    didn't do well at school, but because I love customer service and
    helping people better care for their pets. I work very hard am very
    good at my job, but no matter how much I know about pet care or how
    many products I sell I still make just $17.03 an hour. The wage I earn
    is just enough - I will never be able to afford a house, a new car or
    even a modern TV but that's OK because I'm passionate about my job.
    The National Retail Association, backed by the Liberal party, are
    attempting to have my wages cut by 10% and slash my penalty rates. If
    this happens I will need to leave the retail sector, as would many
    other adults who would find supporting themselves on a retail wage
    impossible. I believe it's the adult workers who provide the best
    knowledge and customer service in retail, especially in specific
    industries like the pet industry. If talented adult retail workers are
    driven out of the industry because the wages aren't enough to survive
    on, you will be left only with teenager workers and the industry will
    suffer further. Why not purchase pet goods online when the teenager at
    the store doesn't know much more about pet care than you do?"

  • Your Rights at Work at 15/08/2011 12:45:03 PM

    @Jessica Thanks for sharing your Letter to the Editor here and great news about it being published too!

  • Bill Wright at 18/08/2011 10:07:07 PM

    I am long retired but with a record of union activism from the early 1960s that's been recognised by the ACTU and acknowledged by the granting of honourary associate membership of my union. My letter was published by The Age (Melbourne) on 12th August 2011. It reads:

    "Judging by its campaign to cut employees wages and reduce penalty rates, the National Retail Association thinks workplace productivity is about undermining minimum standards that protect workers. That won't surprise their customers who have been treated just as badly, if not worse, by decaces of overcharging for cheap imports from low wage countries. A business model that doesn't take account of the woes of the industry such as the high cost of real estate, transport and utilities, competition and the need for member firms to get involved in internet marketing is flawed. Impoverisshing the workforce will result in the American pattern of high staff turnover and consequent inefficiency, customer dissatisfaction and training costs."

    Most workers, intelligently managed and with a sense of property in a reasonably paid job, can be productive enough to earn their wage and reap substantial profits for their employers. When conditions change to the extent that some workers need to move out of their comfort zone, it is emcumbent on employer associations in collaboration with unions to facilitate their transition to more productive jobs. The result is a Win-Win situation for all concerned.

  • Your Rights at Work at 19/08/2011 11:00:35 AM

    @Bill Thanks for adding your Letter to the Editor here for others to read, especially for those that don't get The Age in their state/territory.

  • Sala Taalili at 20/08/2011 1:49:04 AM

    YOUR RIGHTS AT WORK at 20/08/11 1:00 AM.
    I'm a retired mother from the work force after few yrs in other companies and 23 1/2 yrs from the last company in which I served the Union as a deligate for nine years. WORK CHOICES and AWA are really the threat to the work Forces and these changes should be stopped.
    1 These changes will make Australian Generations suffer in years to come.
    2 If these changes { cutting of penalty rates, reducing hourly rate by 10% etc.} happen to the Retail Workers, the door has already opened to the rest of the Work Force.
    3 The workers should be treated well and fairly because they are the source of money flow in, which make the OWNERS and BIG BOSSES rich.
    4 We Australians should be proud of our Nation and stand together as one, NO GREED, NO SELFISHNESS, NO PRIDE!!! GOD BLESS AUSTRALIA.

  • Chris Cook at 21/08/2011 9:37:10 PM

    To Jessica Sichter,
    $17.03 an hour is also the wage for a salesperson in automotive parts and accessories retail even with fifteen years experience. If this is cut any further or penalty rates are cut, why would you bother to get out of bed?
    What sort of third world system are these fat cats aiming at?

  • Your Rights at Work at 23/08/2011 2:45:02 PM

    @Sala Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the campaign. We can tell you're very passionate about this issue. Another way you can support the campaign is to make a submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into the retail sector. Information about how you can do that is above.

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