By Luke Voogt
Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson has abandoned workers reliant on penalty rates by failing to oppose recent cuts, Corio MP Richard Marles has said.
Ms Henderson’s “inaction” on the recent Fair Work Australia (FWA) decision to cut Sunday and public holiday penalty rates showed she supported it, he said.
“From a Labor point of view we will do everything in our power to protect penalty rates.
“Sarah Henderson should be doing the same, or least be admitting that she and her government support this decision by Fair Work Australia.”
The decision will reduce penalty rates for at least 17,000 people in Geelong or 22 per cent of the city’s workforce.
“There’ll be a whole lot of people out there who are highly reliant on that money,” Mr Marles said.
In a union protest outside Ms Henderson’s office on Sunday, local workers attempted to deliver 350 letters opposing the cuts but found her office closed.
Belmont resident and hospitality worker William Olsen was scathing of the Ms Henderson’s “silence” on the issue.
“If Sarah Henderson just sits back and says nothing while thousands of locals get a huge pay cut, we’ll never forgive her,” he said.
“The next person in Waurn Ponds copping a huge pay cut will be her, when we chuck her out at the next election.
“If Sarah Henderson gets $200,000 a year without having to turn up to work on a Sunday, the least she can do is defend her constituents who rely on penalty rates.”
But Ms Henderson described the unions’ personal attack on her work ethic as “pathetic”, saying she worked long hours that weekend.
“On Sunday I started working early afternoon, flew to Canberra and finished working in my Parliament House office at 10.30pm.”
Ms Henderson called Labor “complete hypocrites over penalty rates”, pointing out the unions’ enterprise bargaining agreements with big retailers.
“Labor has worked hand-in-hand with the union movement to abolish weekend penalty rates for thousands of workers (in) large retail,” she said.
But Mr Marles said such criticisms showed a “real ignorance” of enterprise bargaining agreements.
“They’re getting something in exchange for the reduction of penalty rates – they are getting a higher base rate.”
“You can talk about workers at KFC or McDonald’s but it completely misses the point. (The FWA decision) it is just a straight cut in conditions.”
