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We are in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Work Choices, the 2005 major overhaul of workplace relations that would see an end to penalty rates and an end to overtime, has returned from the dead, courtesy of intimate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation – an inquiry by the Productivity Commission. It plans to assess the performance of the Fair Work Act and workplace relations in Australia in general. The government's focus is predictably on shops and food outlets but in reality a revival of Work Choices will be as significant an attack on the health of Australians as the government's attempted assault on Medicare. The government allowed its least successful proponent to speak on the record about this on Friday. The Prime Minister said: "If you don't want to work on a weekend, fair enough, don't work on a weekend. But if you do want to work on a weekend, and lots of people, particularly students, particularly young people, want to work on a weekend, you want the places to be open to provide jobs." The government, as usual, seeks to focus on the insignificant and pretend it is a useful way to summarise the main issue. The Prime Minister is keen for his Melbourne hotel to have its restaurant open on Sunday nights and his local bottle-o open over Easter (heaven forbid this ancient custom changing). And think Medicare as Treasurer Joe Hockey tried to trivialise a gap payment and said it would not have a significant impact. In May last year he said: "One packet of cigarettes costs $22. That gives you three visits to the doctor. You can spend just over $3 on a middy of beer, so that's two middies of beer to go to the doctor." Now it's penalty rates and the mainstream focus has been entirely on retail and hospitality. The Productivity Commission lists some areas that "might need to change". The issues papers released in January (this government specialises in trying to ensure it is not scrutinised while some Australians are on holidays) says some businesses and other commentators have argued the current system lacks flexibility; it requires high negotiated wage rates; it imposes penalty rates, is below 'international best practice'. Want a cheaper cup of coffee? Want your local bakery to open on a Sunday? Want to pop into Jeans and Co so you can try and squeeze into the latest 'mom' jeans? Want it all to be cheaper? This is the bait the federal government uses to draw Australians into a national discussion about penalty rates. Our baser selves secretly imagine that the people who work in those industries are under 25 (average – the average – is more like 30). It's the income you have before having a real income. You might be surprised to know that the single biggest group of workers who are eligible for penalty rates are those who work in the healthcare and social assistance sector – they are the nurses who help your old dad when he turns up at emergency. They are the palliative care workers on call day and night. They are the women who work in community services in refuges and shelters, all over Australia, doing daily, nightly, work stopping violence in the community. There are more than 1.2 million of those ordinary Australians whose penalty rates are at risk with any proposed change. And while they account for the biggest single sector doing work that saves lives every single day, their income levels are well under average weekly earnings. Those women (it's an industry which is largely women) earn just under $1090 before tax. And that includes their penalty rates. The average age of those who work in health and community support? Mid 40s. Just when the twin burdens of spending on kids and living expenses is at its peak. Who earns the most? Another industry under attack, mining. The average weekly earnings is nearly $2500. That's an industry based on a six-day week, and if members refuse to work on Saturdays it would be seen as industrial action. The CFMEU insists that rostered days off (RDO) that accrue for unpaid time worked are actually taken as time off – it's a way to ensure that at least some miners' marriages remain intact. Those RDOs are already under attack by this government. The government and its lobbyists continue to spread misinformation about penalty rates. Here's what the Centre for Work and Life (lead researcher Tony Daly from the University of South Australia) found last year in its research about penalty rates. Those most likely to receive penalty rates were workers in the social assistance, manufacturing and healthcare industries. The report said: "Of those who received penalty rates for working unsocial hours, over one third relied on this penalty rates for household expenses. Those relying on penalty rates were more likely to be women, sole parents or with combined household incomes less than $30,000." In 2010, the then Leader of the Opposition said he would sign a "bit of paper" abandoning Work Choices. "It's dead, it's buried, it's cremated now and forever. But obviously I can't give an absolute guarantee about every single aspect of workplace relations legislation. But Work Choices is gone now and forever." But he also said this : "I can't give an absolute guarantee about every single aspect of workplace relations . . . obviously I can't say that there will never ever ever for 100 or 1000 years time be any change to any aspect of industrial legislation. But the Fair Work Act will not be amended in the next term of government if we are in power." He also said: "We have no plans, no plans whatsoever to make any changes to the legislation. Not now. Not ever . . . all democratic politicians above all else have to respect the electorate. And the electorate gave us a very clear message in 2007. I respect that message, I heed that message, I will follow that message." Work Choices. Coming to a zombie convention near you. The only thing zombies fear is fire. That's one way of describing an election. Follow me on Twitter or email jenna_p@bigpond.net.au

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