Contributed by Ugly

The Victorian Trades Hall Council’s we are union campaign has organised a breakfast to be held on Southbank on Sunday 21^st May at 10am (21/8 Whiteman St).

Called the Peoples Breakfast, the event aims to make public the discrepancy between the exclusive $50 a head breakfast at Café Baci and the reality that many Australians have now been excluded from enjoying a breakfast in a cafe. A select group has been invited to this breakfast, to schmooze with Liberal MPs and the Vice President of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Those attending the Peoples Breakfast outside the cafe, will use the opportunity to talk to the public about the impact of the penalty rates cut and the need to turn this attack around.

Highlighted will be the effect on those miss out on weekends and what this does to families and friends.  Organisations that depend on volunteers to provide services will also suffer, if their volunteers can no longer give the time.

Those tasking part will enjoy a bit of avocado on toast.

The Coalition government is vulnerable on this issue. Few support it because nearly everyone has a chance of losing established working conditions. It has even proved to be a headache for Pauline Hanson. Her support for the penalty rate cuts, has sent shock waves through One Nation, to the extent that she was forced to backtrack after the act.

The main immediate impact is in the hospitality industry, which happens to be a major employer in Australia these days. It is also a leg up for major employers, who have been given a precedent to expand the same to other industries.

Unions have reacted angrily and are engaged in an ongoing campaign to reverse the trend and there are signs that union membership is growing as wage earners become increasingly nervous about their future work conditions.