Noely's excellent #PenaltyRates Cut twitter adventure ;-)
Politics Article

Noely's excellent #PenaltyRates Cut twitter adventure ;-)

OK, I spent too long this morning debating with COSBOA (Council of Small Business Australia) on Twitter the penalty rates issue. Check out my timeline this morning if interested in that. Anyhow, long story short, they were more interested in the dodgy ‘trade’ the odious shoppies did than the actual benefit to Small Business of the Penalty Rate Cut, which, in my opinion is next to zero.
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7 March, 2017

OK, I spent too long this morning debating with COSBOA (Council of Small Business Australia) on Twitter the penalty rates issue. Credit to COSBOA though, the debate was civil, which is nice to see on Twitter, you can view "Penalty Rates COSBOA Twitter debate" if interested.  Anyhow, long story short, they were more interested in the dodgy ‘trade’ the odious shoppies did than the actual benefit to Small Business of the Penalty Rate Cut, which, in my opinion is next to zero.

I am a Small Business Owner. In my job, I’ve been dealing with ‘literally’ thousands & thousands of other small business owners for over a decade. To remain viable and employing people (Small Business is the biggest employer in the nation) we do need help. Penalty rate cuts are not it! In my opinion COSBOA are not fighting the right fight. AND politicians are bullshitting Small Business - again.

So... This frustration led to a twitter rant which I have condensed below as, sorry, it was all over the shop, I was a tad cranky LOL!

*begin rant*

Prepare for incoming thoughts on #PenaltyRates cut. Note: I'm a Sml Biz Owner who has literally dealt with 1000's of Sml Biz over a decade.

  1. Biggest cost to Small Business is Commercial Tenancy Agreements, cut in rates on 1/2 staff on Sunday is piss in the ocean.
  2. Centre Management of Shopping Centres not only charge exorbitant rents but 'enforce' 7 day trading & long hours - big cost
  3. Again, a cut in Sunday #Penaltyrates for only 2 or 3 staff will again, be only a piss in the ocean compared to below costs to trade.
  4. Most Small Business is run by owner operators. Biggest whinge at Chamber of Commerce meetings is owner working on Sunday.
  5. Again, a cut in Sunday #PenaltyRates will not add up to enough to employ a staff member on Sunday to replace Owner not working.
  6. Most Small Biz in 'food' area are really cranky about unfair advantage odious Shoppies gave to Fast Food Chains
  7. This is the biggest issue and they should be taking on those EBA's that 'traded' away #PenaltyRates as an unfair trading advantage.
  8. Argument 'most' in Hospitality/Retail not affected is a lie. When EBA's renegotiatied again, new #PenaltyRates cut WILL be factored in.
  9. Any politician or Lobby Group who says different ask them why the likes of Hungry Jacks etc wasted time & $$ on big submissions to FWC?
  10. Contrary to PM Malcolm Turnbull's statement, submissions to FWC on so-called new jobs #PenaltyRates cut will open up is NOT 'evidence'.
  11. Even COSBOA admits maybe only 10,000 new jobs (up to 40,000) yet can't back that up with 'real' evidence at all.
  12. Any Sml Biz that is in an area where there is 'demand' to be open on a Sunday, is already OPEN on a Sunday
  13. Therefore, are already meeting that 'demand' with current staffing levels. Why would they put on an extra staff member not required?
  14. For those saying more business will open Sun with #PenaltyRates cut... IF there was a demand for their service would already be open.
  15. Cost saved on 2/3 Sunday #PenaltyRates staff would not mean enough funds to staff & open on Sunday if not previously #DoesntAddUp
  16. Common call is #PenaltyRates will allow 'regional' shops/cafe's to open. see below Unless a tourism area, this is a furphy, no 'demand'
  17. Most who work Sun are lower socio economic demographic, they spend nearly all they earn in region. Cutting #PenaltyRates hurts Sml Biz
  18. Even if likes of COSBOA are correct & an extra 10k are employed, this will in no way compensate for the over 100k who will be hurt.
  19. So we are talking about over 100k not earning enough for rent, transport, Uni books, BASICALLY LIVING. Compared to 'maybe 10k jobs'.
  20. + those extra 10k are likely to be only 1 shift per week, the Sunday, so this will only add to 'under-employment' problem.
  21. The Biz who will benefit most from #PenaltyRates cut are the BIG chains where economy of scale means that cut equates to big bikkies.
  22. I will remind you again that EBA's are based on awards, hence #PenaltyRates cut WILL be factored in when renogotiated.
  23. Due to more intimate nature of Sml Biz, many would not pass on #PenaltyRates cut so as not to diss their loyal staff. So no benefit.
  24. Those Sml Biz that did gleefully pass on #PenaltyRates cut, would most likely be crap bosses who engender no loyalty from staff anyhow.
  25. Most Small Biz have been conned into believing that #PenaltyRates cut is silver bullet to them making more money & time off for owners.
  26. #PenaltyRates is always the call after a bad tourist season, period of bad weather etc. It is a euphemism for 'we are hurting'.
  27. Too many politicians feed this theme as it suits their purposes, which is destroying #PenaltyRates for their big business donors.
  28. THIS does not actually help Small Business. They are being used as proxies in a war between Big Business profits & Unions SIGH!
  29. Small Business does need help. #PenaltyRates cuts won't help a Sml Biz survive, they need, red tape cut, fair trading competition...
  30. Changes to Payroll Tax, 'Refunds' on GST when applicable, not 'credit', to help cash flow in non profitable periods will help Sml Biz.
  31. Cost of communications (and access), Point of Sale services, Credit Card Charges etc etc being lowered would help Small Business.
  32. Laws stopping Centre Managements enforcing ridiculous 7 day, long hours contracts that they will sue if not honoured would help Sml Biz.
  33. Landlords charging exorbitant Commercial rents 'because they can' & don't care if not tenanted coz will write off on tax hurt Sml Biz.
  34. There are many more issues that I could mention in regard to problem Small Biz face. ALL hurt more than Sunday #PenaltyRates.
  35. Cutting #PenaltyRates will not suddenly help make Small Business viable, nor will it employ many more people. It is an URBAN MYTH
  36. So #PenaltyRates not only hurt those who's wages have been cut, it also only a placebo not really helping Sml Biz which does need help.
  37. In the meantime, those 'regional' areas? Yeah, even less money will be spent in region, due to locals on #PenaltyRates getting a pay cut
  38. In conclusion. #PenaltyRates are bad for Sunday workers, devastating in some cases. #PenaltyRates won't help Sml Biz, who need help

*drops the #PenaltyRates mic* ;-)

NOTE: obviously in tweet number 38 I meant “CUTS” won’t help either workers or small business ;-)

To more easily load the page, I have obviously only copied & pasted my comments, not embedded the tweets, though, I could have added many more points but ran out of steam. See further tweets below of others who added to the issue I was highlighting.

As an aside, interesting results here "The polling on penalty rates shows populism is not a monolithic beast" on Penalty rates, not so popular in fact.

Cheers,
Noely

 

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