The politics of penalty rates

It is a sign of these unhappy times in politics that the biggest economic fight going on in Australia seems to be over the level of penalty rates paid to approximately 700,000 people who work on Sundays.

Not that anyone who currently earns a big Sunday loading will be happy at having it reduced from, for example, 200 per cent to 175 per cent (retail) or 150 per cent to 125 per cent (fast food).