Clubs reject pay cut push

TWEED clubs are rebelling against proposed plans by Clubs Australia to slash penalty rates for thousands of workers in NSW.

The Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club and the Cudgen Leagues Club are among more than 150 clubs in NSW who have rejected the bid to cut workers’ penalty rates.

Governing body Clubs Australia wants penalty rates for staff reduced and for the Clubs Award to be replaced by the Hospitality Award, leaving club staff up to $100 a week worse off.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled to begin in the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday.

Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club general manager and Club Managers Association president for the North Coast, Phil Kelly said clubs could not expect staff to work on weekends or late at night without penalty rates.

“If we expect people to work late at night and on weekends when everyone else has time off, they have to be rewarded for that,” he said.

“Getting good people to work in those silly hours is not easy any more. If you put yourself in the staff member’s position, why would they come to work at night when they could get the same pay during the day? We wouldn’t be able to get staff.

“The industry has negotiated over many years to have a good award for the industry and that includes penalty rates.”

Mr Kelly said his club would continue to provide penalty rates for staff regardless of the Fair Work hearing outcome.

“I would love to have a bit of a reduction in my wage costs but you have to look at the reality of it. We will be negotiating an enterprise agreement for our staff and that will still include penalty rates.”

The Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club and Cudgen Leagues Club have been listed on a website by union United Voice, which lists “good clubs” who are rejecting the proposed cuts. United Voice National Secretary Jo-anne Schofield said the split within the clubs sector exposed Clubs Australia as isolated and out-of-touch from the wishes of its own members.

“It’s quite telling that Clubs Australia, the supposed peak body of clubs, could only put forward one club in the Fair Work Commission in the July hearings that actually supported cutting penalty rates,” she said.

“We applaud the clubs in the Northern Rivers who are putting their community values first by standing with their staff.”