The Australian Workers Party (AWP) has called on federal politicians to donate their salary increases to charity in light of the penalty-rate cuts for hospitality workers that will come into effect on July 1.
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AWP national secretary, Mark Ptolemy, said the federal parliamentarian pay increase was "simply obscene".
"While wages for most working people have remained stagnant for years, and the fact that nearly nine million workers will get a pay cut from July 1, they should show some decency and either reject the two per cent pay increase, or donate it to charity.
"We understand that their increases are set by the independent Remuneration Tribunal, but it is still the choice of individual MPs to accept the pay rise or not.
"We call on all parliamentarians, every single on of them, to respect the struggles of ordinary wage earners and donate their salary increases to charity if they can't find the courage to reject them.
"We know the MPs will say the can't reject the increases, but we all know that if they collectively addressed the matter, they could seek a moratorium on any increases until wages for average workers are also increased."
Mr Ptolemy said the AWP rejected the idea of "pay peanuts, you get monkeys", and believed being an MP should be about public service, not personal profit.
"Workers across Australia are struggling, many have to work two or three jobs to survive," he said. "To hear that the base salary of an MP will be more than $207,000, and the Prime Minister will receive more than $550,000, is more than a slap in the face, it's a kick in the guts.
"Our message to all MPs is this: reject the salary increase, or donate it, and show some respect to ordinary workers who are struggling due to the decisions you make."
