A union bid to stop the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut Sunday penalty rates has been briefly heard in the Federal Court in Melbourne.
Hospitality union United Voice launched the appeal to keep workers' penalty rates the same for Sundays and public holidays, after they were cut on the weekend.
The Fair Work Commission earlier in the year decided Sunday rates would drop by five percentage points for workers in the fast food, hospitality, retail and pharmacy sectors from July 1.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), which is backing the legal challenge, said thousands of people will be affected by the legal challenge.
"We are going to fight this all the way until this decision is reversed," ACTU president Ged Kearney said.
Wage cut is unfair: Union
United Voice said based on the legal advice they have received, they believe they have a strong case.
The Victorian Branch Secretary of United Voice, Jess Walsh, said they will be arguing that the Fair Work Commission failed in its obligation to uphold the living standards of Australian workers.
"The Fair Work Commission was required by law to take the needs of low-paid workers into account when making its decision and we say that it did not," she said.
“We are compelled to take this legal step. We cannot accept a decision that impacts so dramatically on already low-paid workers."
"We think the decision is not only unjust and unfair, but also legally wrong and that is the basis of the appeal today."
It is about what is sustainable for businesses: ACCI
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), which represents 300,000 businesses around the country, said it was confident that the decision on penalty rates by the Fair Work Commission would withstand scrutiny in the courts.
"Our legal advice is that the (Fair Work) decision is well reasoned, properly balanced on the factors the Commission has regard to and should stand," ACCI's director of workplace relations, Scott Barklamb, told ABC Radio.
He said he felt the Commission's decision adequately addressed the concerns and needs of low paid workers, and that it had struck the right balance.
"We think that is one of the more significant, well reasoned and major cases in the Commission's history. So we're surprised to hear the unions say that something was omitted or not properly considered," Mr Barklamb said.
"We think this is about balance, and we think the community ultimately to understand that wage north of $50 an hour for work on a Sunday are really unsustainable...are in excess of what a business can sustainably charge and pass onto its customers."
After a brief hearing on Wednesday, the next hearing is scheduled for September 18.
- with AAP
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