A Sane Compromise !

It is one of the strange aspects of life in Australia that we have a vast number of unemployed young people - and at the same time many in the business community still operate on a five day week and miss the profit opportunity of opening on Saturday and Sunday.

It doesn't take the brain power of  Albert Einstein or a Stephen Hawking to figure out why.  The imposition of penalty rates for those working outside the old "nine to five " work configuration simply make opening unprofitable.

Finally, a group of business owners in South Australia have sat down with some forward thinking union leaders and thrashed out a deal.  In exchange for a higher rate of pay and improved working conditions time and a half pay rates on a Saturday will be abolished and double time on Sunday halved.

That is the sort of compromise that is badly needed on a national basis.  Penalty rates that normally apply result in many juniors earning fifty dollars an hour on a Sunday and that makes opening a business unprofitable on a weekend.  In the past, the union movement disregarded the need for profit by those running a business in their thinking.  It was their contention that anyone who ran their own business was "rich " and they demanded compensation for what they termed "irregular " hours.  It didn't seem to occur to them that times have changed and Australia is no longer chained to that old "nine to five "working week !

One of the reasons that we have a big pool of unemployed young people is because the imposition of penalty rates have priced them out of the job market.  The Australian workplace half a century ago began to diverge.  The public service and the offices of big commercial companies worked a five day week within the customary business hours, but the retail and service world began to attract custom by opening late at night and over the weekend.   The age of the seven day supermarket had arrived and with that the vast array of services that once slammed the door shut at closing time on a Friday.

The problem is that the unions are implacably opposed to ending penalty rates.  That agreement has been reached with the union involved in South Australia is almost a miracle and already it is being roundly condemned by national union leaders.  The unions see any work performed outside of that old "nine to five "time frame as an imposition that should be richly rewarded.  They fail to see that the world has evolved into a twenty-four hour work cycle and that job distribution within that cycle is now a balance between the needs of the employer and the lifestyle aspirations of the employee.  The opportunity for leisure activities is now spread over a wider time frame.

The likely outcome in South Australia will be more businesses open on Saturday and Sunday - and with that more job opportunities to shrink the unemployment roll.  More importantly, a better balance of pay scales will attract those thinking of starting a business to take the plunge.  We are likely to see a more vibrant shopping scene and less premises with a "For Rent "placard on their front window.

Hopefully, this sensible compromise will spread to the wider business community of this country !