“We had an overwhelming majority of employees who supported the agreement, but more importantly, the UTA signed the removal of the burden of vacations and penalties before the 39th hour.” “The bottom line is that it has already been accepted in a company agreement in Australia.” Gardiner said employees, who are divided equally between permanent and casual workers, did receive a “much lower average hourly rate” than if penalty interest was applied. Casual workers continue to receive penalty interest. Stephen Bali, assistant secretary of the AWU`s Greater New South Wales office, said workers were doing much better under the deal, highlighting the additional benefits negotiated by the union, including six weeks of leave a year. The first agreement was reached in 2007 under John Howard`s Work Choice system, and a second agreement came into effect in early 2012 and expires this year. “Most of our peak hours are after school, in the evenings and on weekends. So if you apply the normal framework of penalty rates in Australian industrial history, we would kill ourselves. We just couldn`t do that. “We negotiated the right to have this penalty interest only if you did 38 hours.” He said the union had guaranteed better pension rights for PCYC employees and access to leave in cases of domestic violence. Young workers also received higher wages than the usual junior bonus rate.

“If you look at the whole deal, no worker will be in a worse situation,” he said. Chris Gardiner, executive director of Police Citizens Youth Clubs NSW, said he contacted the AWU after concluding that the cost of penalty interest would “kill” an organisation that has 585 workers across New South Wales who offer sporting activities, fitness and wellness programmes. He said youth clubs worked in a fitness area where staff were often only busy by the hour and had their own NBA numbers. “I felt it made long-term sense to find common ground, and the kind of change I was looking for would have legitimacy if it was supported by a union,” Gardiner said. “I also didn`t want to be seen as profiting from work decisions and being on a union success list under a future ALP government. Under the agreement, penalties and assignments are not paid for the first 38 hours that permanent employees work, even if they are employed on weekends or up to 10 p..m Monday through Friday. “Penalty rates have been the litmusing issue for us and this has already been admitted by Australia`s oldest union,” Gardiner said. Hundreds of employees who worked weekends and evenings agreed to weigh their penalty interest as part of an agreement between the Australian Workers Union and a major non-governmental organisation. Click here to hear Nick Xenophon talk about the wage burden on tour operators in a Tourism Conversations podcast. Bali, who negotiated the deal, also said permanent employees rarely work on weekends. “It was crucial for us, as a medium-sized NGO, to work with a lot of part-time workers to manage our costs, and the penalty interest prevented us from bringing people in or opening up at times,” he said.

In exchange for penalties, permanent employees received a number of improved conditions, including a higher base hourly wage, six weeks of vacation per year, an increased retirement pension and potential performance bonuses. “If you listen to the current debate, there are people arguing about the seriousness of this issue and employers saying it needs to be put on the table.

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