No pay on Christmas Day! Politicians trade blows over wage row

SA Labor aims Twitter jab at Liberals, who respond with pointed statement

No pay on Christmas Day! Politicians trade blows over wage row

Instead of exchanging gifts and holiday cheers, South Australia's Labor and Liberal parties are exchanging blows after the government failed to declare Christmas Day a public holiday. Christmas Day falls on a Saturday this year, so the public holiday was moved to December 27. However, a bill was tabled to Parliament requesting December 25 to also be declared as a public holiday. This would have granted workers penalty rates on Christmas Day.

Unions and associations have been calling on the Premier Steven Marshall and the Liberal government to pass the bill as a form of gratitude to essential workers. However, as the first day of December passed, the bill before Parliament to amend the Holidays Act 1910 lapsed.

"Steven Marshall and the Liberals have just voted to kill a bill which would have made Christmas Day a public holiday," the SA Labor said in a tweet, adding on a follow-up post that the premier "voted to ensure thousands of South Australian workers don't get penalty rates on Christmas Day."

The Liberals addressed the matter in a later statement, where they pinned the blame on the "remarkable act of stubbornness" of Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas and the Labor Party. Treasurer Rob Lucas said in a statement that it was Malinauskas and his party that voted against the compromise proposal by member of Parliament Troy Bell, which the treasurer described as the "golden opportunity" for the tens of thousands of employees.

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Bell's proposal to amend the Holidays Act 1910 would give Christmas Day "higher penalty rates (250%) in exchange for the removal of the half-day public holiday on Christmas Eve (when Christmas Day falls on a Saturday)."

"Ultimately, Mr. Malinauskas and Labor have nobody to blame but themselves for refusing to support a reasonable compromise by Independent MP Troy Bell which was supported by the government," said Lucas.

Amid the in-fighting between both parties, South Australia is left as the only state that will not grant workers holiday pay should they decide to work on Christmas Day. SA Unions slammed Marshall's government over what happened, saying it was their fault for quashing the original bill that would make December 25 a public holiday.

"Steven Marshall's thanks for our health care and essential service workers, our hospo and retail workers, our transport and logistics workers, is to deny them the Christmas penalty rates that workers in every single other state are entitled to," it said in a statement.

"This Government has shown us their DNA today. They're hardwired to cut workers pay at every chance they get. Even on Christmas."

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