Steeled by the election of the Abbott government, peak bodies representing bosses in the retail, hospitality and beauty industries have moved into attack mode.

The National Retailers Association and the Hair and Beauty Industry Association have led the way with a successful application to the Fair Work Commission, which will allow employers to replace public holiday penalty rates with time in lieu.

Currently, workers are paid time-and-a-half when working on a public holiday. Under the new ruling, they can instead be paid the normal hourly rate, but will accrue the extra as time in lieu. The time accrued can be taken as paid leave at a time convenient to the employer, or can be paid out after four weeks.

The decision has been hailed as a “win for flexibility” by NRA deputy executive Bianca Seeto. “Flexibility” is code for bosses tightening their control over workers’ labour.

Penalty rates have been a thorn in the side of Australian bosses since the start of last century. They ensure that workers receive compensation for working unsociable hours and impose a penalty on employers who seek to expand the scope of ordinary working hours.

Deferring the payment of penalty rates, as this decision allows, is a step along the path towards scrapping them entirely. This is a goal the NRA has been pursuing for years.

Restaurant and Catering Australia has also joined the fray, calling on the Abbott government to legislate to cut hospitality workers’ wages after its own failed Fair Work application.

In real terms, wages have already been steadily declining in these industries for years.

The union that covers most fast food and retail workers in Australia – the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association – doesn’t have a history of organising workers to fight. Instead the SDA has a tradition of cutting dodgy deals with bosses, often trading away members’ conditions for pitiful pay rises that don’t even keep up with inflation.

In order to defend ourselves from future attacks and one day coordinate industrial action to claw back what we have lost, SDA members need to rebuild a culture of real unionism. This will involve rank and file delegate structures and networks across our many different workplaces.

If you are a fast food or retail worker, you should join the union, encourage your workmates to join and seek to win arguments for fighting unionism within your own workplace.