When I heard a group of federal Liberal backbenchers recently asking for penalty rates to be reviewed – despite the Coalition promising before the election that it had no intention of messing with them – my first thought was for sport and church. Or more to the point, to the threat to sport and church if these backbenchers had their way.
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Well not just sport and church, for they are only two examples of the things that occupy the weekends and weeknights of Australians. For many, it won’t be church or sport. It might be gardening. It might be horse riding. It might be making quilts. It might be volunteering at the local radio station, singing in a choir, training dogs or riding motorbikes. It might be tinkering on the car, working in the shed, taking photographs…whatever.
And, of course, for all of us weekends and weeknights are when we can spend time with family and friends.
These are the things that we are passionate about – that make our lives interesting and enjoyable.
So low-paid workers often get penalty rates, higher rates of pay, when they work late nights, early mornings, weekends or public holidays. It’s an acknowledgement that working unsociable hours costs people the chance to do social things.
The pressure to work unsociable hours is also an issue for small business, as much as it is for low-paid workers.
The first union rally I ever attended was called Save our Sundays when I was about 18. Actually, it is not correct to call it a union rally as it was a joint union, church and small business rally fighting against a push by big business for Sunday trading in Victoria in the late 1980s. I recall it as a very peaceful and cooperative rally without any aggression or violence.
In fact, the only disruption I recall was from a particular religious group protesting against the focus on Sundays – they were holding large banners saying Save our Saturdays!
I attended this rally in support of a wonderful family I knew who owned a small corner store and were concerned about the pressure they would face to open longer if the big supermarkets were allowed to extend their hours. This family was very sporty and liked attending church together; any work on weekends for the parents took away important time with the family at sport on Saturdays and church on Sundays.
If penalty rates were ever removed, the logical conclusion would be an ordinary working week that went well beyond 9-5 on Monday to Friday. The big losers from such a 24/7 working week would be family life, and the sporting groups, churches and other community activities that make us all feel alive!
