Currently, workers younger than 21 employed under the General Retail Industry Award, Fast Food Industry Award and Pharmacy Industry Award are not entitled to full adult wages, even though they have adult responsibilities to vote and hold a drivers licence.
Those aged 20 are paid 90 per cent of the award rate, 19-year-olds receive 80 per cent and 18-year-olds get 70 per cent.
The SDA’s application to the Fair Work Commission is carefully balanced; entry level wages would still apply for workers aged below 18.
As they did when campaigning against equal pay for women and for cuts in penalty rates the employers argue without foundation that paying adult wages to ALL adults in retail and pharmacy would cost jobs.
Female participation in the workforce has been growing ever since women won equal pay. Respectable studies show that cuts to penalty rates in the last decade did not add jobs to the workforce.
Once again, employers are not dealing in facts; they are relying on unsupported assertions.
Quotes from Gerard Dwyer, National Secretary the SDA the union for retail, fast food, warehousing, and pharmacy workers:
“When women were fighting for equal pay half a century ago, employers said it would squeeze them out of the job market – now they’re using the same tired argument about paying 18-year-olds adult wages.
“It wasn’t true then and it won’t be true now.
“Nor was it true when employers campaigned in the last decade to cut penalty rates.
“18-year-olds are adults. They struggle with the same cost of living pressures as every other adult worker.
“They do not receive a discount on their rent or bills because they happen to be 18. They should be paid the same as other adults.
“18-year-olds can vote, drive and put the lives on the line for their country.
“Most workers in the sector are highly experienced by the time they are 18. They are most likely to have started when they are 15 or 16.
“There is no justification for paying them 30 per cent less.
“For some employers it’s never the right time to do the right thing.
“18-year-olds should not be treated as second class citizens.
“Their work is as valuable as anyone else’s and they should be paid accordingly.”
Gerard Dwyer is available for interview
Contact: Jim Middleton 0418 627066
