But those industries appear to be just the first of many on the chopping block with the announcement this week that hairdressers, cafe and hospitality workers look set to be next.

Hairdressers already receive a relatively low income compared with other workers – and that includes hospitality and cafe workers.

With no current union to support them, hairdressers look the most vulnerable of the three.

There’s little doubt that any further reduction in penalty rates, taking into account the cuts already made in the areas already listed would be extremely detrimental to the Northern Tasmanian workforce.

The community is already divided following the first round of cuts.

Not surprisingly, business groups came out in full support of the decision by Fair Work Australia, while the Opposition parties, community groups and unions slammed the decision.

Business groups argue that the commission’s ruling would encourage more businesses to open up on Sundays, in turn creating more employment opportunities and thereby stimulating the economy.

Critics say they don’t believe that will happen – ever – claiming that most workplaces would absorb the reduction in wages back into the company’s bottom line.

Now, the very notion that hairdressers could be next in the firing line has angered unions. Australian Workers Union national secretary Dan Walton told a mainland newspaper: “it is unconscionable for the business lobby to go after a group made up predominantly of underpaid women”.

It has already been well documented that Tasmanians in general are already amongst the lowest-paid in Australia.

We also have a disportionately high number of part-time and casual workers – a number that continues to grow when compared with the number of full-time workers.

Reducing the pay of cafe and restaurant workers – many of whom are directly and indirectly linked to the state’s burgeoning tourism industry – will be a bitter pill to swallow.

The commission is expected to hand down its decision on any further cuts to penalty rates over the next few months.

But if recent history is anything to go by, the cut appears to be a foregone conclusion.