http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/01/09/calombaris-has-masterchip-on-his-shoulder-ov...

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That's all the information I can provide because of Crikeys stupid subscription block.

What an absolute moron Calambaris is. He expects his waitors and Chefs to work on Public Holidays for regular rates, have you ever heard anything more ridiculous in your life.

CELEBRITY chef George Calombaris has entered the industrial relations debate, slamming as uneconomical penalty rates faced by restaurateurs under the federal Fair Work Act.

Calombaris, who stars in the high-rating MasterChef TV show, has complained about the rates he will have to pay staff at his new Melbourne pasta bar, due to open this month, claiming it is up to $40 an hour per worker on Sundays.

''And it's not like they've had to go to uni for 15 years,'' he told the Power Index website yesterday. ''The problem is that wages on public holidays and weekend greatly exceed the opportunity for profit. So our labour laws are something that need to be looked at.''

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'Too high' ... George Calombaris as a judge on MasterChef.
The cost of eating out in Australia was expensive because of the workplace relations regime, Calombaris said.

Retailers cough up half a million in back-pay

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten disagrees with Calombaris on penalty rates.

''If George wants to bargain with his workers and improve productivity and be even more competitive, then the tools exist in our present workplace system,'' the website, which is owned by publisher Eric Beecher's Private Media Pty Ltd, cited him as saying.

''Penalty rates compensate wait staff and others who have to work late nights, public holidays and weekends while everyone else gets to spend this time with family and friends.

''The Gillard government won't be adopting the low road of paying already low-paid workers less.''

But Institute of Public Affairs work reform director John Lloyd said Mr Shorten and the unions should be listening to Calombaris' concerns because he joined a growing list of restaurant owners warning penalty rates could force restaurant closures and job losses.

''Under the current system the penalty rates are underpinned by an award and basically set in concrete,'' Mr Lloyd said in a statement.

''The Rudd/Gillard workplace relations system has imposed a rigid set of rules.''

Small businesses were opting out of genuine bargaining with their employees, with initiatives offering growth to businesses and job security for employees not being pursued, Mr Lloyd said.

Mr Lloyd said that while unions offered platitudes about enterprise bargaining, in practice they would not even entertain the slightest reduction in agreement or award terms.

He said the review of the Fair Work Act was too modest. The review is set to be completed and handed to the government by an independent panel in May.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/out-of-the-frying-pan-p...



To bargain mean take the rate the boss says ... or fall under the poverty line, thanks to the Anti Labor Party's attack on the unemployed.

cods wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 6:36am:



All you do is promote it, by posting.


Is your negativity due to not having a solid position, other than supporting ALP's position by defacto.

You oppose lifting the unemployed out of poverty and oppose workers being paid a decent amount for their Labour. You support the very wealthy over middle and lower Australians.

Correct?

____ wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 6:48am:



oh boy I wish I could be bothered answering you.. but its like dealing with a programmed robot.

.keep on keeping on knucklehead..maybe one day you will surprise me and say something worth answering.

cods wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 7:15am:




So a long winded yes ... thanks man's droopy pair.

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I guess you and Mr Shorten would prefer if everyone stayed at home with their families on public holidays??/ not a bad idea at this rate he will get his wish..


ummmmm what about hospitals??? everybody out by 5pm Friday

GoddyofOz wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 3:42am:


Maybe he isn't charging his customers enough to cover wages?

If you support penalty rates then you have to support higher prices outside business hours to compensate.

Penalty rates are supposed to be an incentive to attract staff to work outside normal work hours when there is a shortage of staff during those times, not just a union extorted perk for all shift workers.

In other words market based.

The current union demanded ALP instigated IR system is inflexible, artificially fixes the price of labour (just like a cartel which for businesses is illegal) and retards enterprise, investment and ultimately costs jobs........(Calombaris is absolutely correct) something that Lefties can't get thier collective assimilated pea brains around .