FEDERAL Government support for a union push to abolish the 20-year old youth wage has blind-sided the retail industry and will damage business confidence in a sector already being hit by high wage costs, escalating fixed costs and on-line competition.
Tasmania’s peak employer organisation, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) says the situation will be particularly damaging to the State’s retail, hospitality and tourism sectors, coming on top of the adverse impact of penalty rates.
With its national body, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), the TCCI is supporting calls by retail employers for the government to back-off and allow the Fair Work Commission to decide youth wages without government barracking for the union push.
“Age-based junior wages in the retail industry are set independently, and when last examined the tribunal found they were not discriminatory because they provided entry level work and compensated for lack of experience,” TCCI Chief Executive Michael Bailey said.
“Abolition of junior wages based on the theory of age discrimination ignores past findings of the Fair Work Commission, and will unquestionably lead to fewer job opportunities in an industry where the cost of labour directly impacts the number of young people working in retailing,” Mr Bailey said.
“ACCI’s pre-election survey showed that nearly, 85 per cent of businesses expressed moderate to major concerns about wage levels and 72 per cent expressed similar concerns with penalty rate levels.
“On the back of a triple whammy of higher penalty rates, higher superannuation levies and national wage rises, this latest move will drain the confidence and capacity of small and medium retailers to provide jobs.”
Government support for the union push to abolish the 20-year old youth wage comes on the back of a government decision last month to meet union demands to legislate penalty rates in the Fair Work Act.
“An even-handed approach to industrial relations in the private sector would, at a minimum, be to allow sensitive issues like junior wages and penalty rates to be decided without the Gillard Government barracking for the union cause,” Mr Bailey said.
ACCI on behalf of the Chamber movement has lodged a submission with the Fair Work Commission, supporting the retail industry on junior wages. This can be found at www.acci.asn.au.