Welcome to the Low Wage Bus Tour!

WE’RE a bunch of 27 warehouse workers travelling through Victoria, ACT and NSW to promote Tony Abbott’s vision of a low-wage future for Australia.

For three-and-a-half years, we’ve been paid $20 an hour to work at the warehouse, lifting boxes as heavy as 100kg all day every day. The industry norm for this sort of work is closer to $25 an hour.

But we’ve been strung along with promises that a pay rise was just around the corner.

Now, the management of Super A-Mart, on orders from their owners, a rich private equity firm called Quadrant PE, have told workers that they can’t have any pay rises in the next three years because they’re an “Award wage company”.

This is amazing news.

The idea that a private equity firm would only pay Award wages is incredible. Possibly a world first.

Last year Quadrant’s Managing Director Chris Hadley paid himself $7.9 million, and this year — if he adopts the Award — he’ll be lucky to clear $37,000.

After all, it would be hypocritical if he paid himself anything more. They’ve told us they’re an Award wage company. What a man of incredible restraint!

Of course, the push for wage restraint is coming direct from Canberra, and is being used as a stick against companies who want to pay decent wages to their workers.

So the Low Wage Bus Tour is going to stop off in Canberra to get politicians like Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey to sign on to commit to paying themselves a basic award wage.

After all — if they think it’s good for others, it should be good for them.

We’ll keep you updated throughout the next couple of days as we visit towns and cities along the way, spreading Tony Abbott’s vision of a Low Wage future for Australia.
WATCH: Chad and Alycia explain the Low Wage Bus Tour

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mZt96yuRr8&feature=share