Bubye KRudd
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I am also from a working class background but I have never voted labor because we haven't had a 'real' labor party for many many many years... As far as unions go, I don't know about other unions but I can speak about the Nurses union in SA..... they get into bed with what ever party is in power to some degree. Nurses have a claytons union and the public suffers for that because noone is listening to us about the problems in our health care system. (probably not the right forum but it's time the public heard the truth) from nurses....... WE DON'T WANT MORE PAY, WE JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AFTER PEOPLE WELL!!!!!!Thanks for listening
Aren't the Nurses Union in SA and the SA Labor party one and the same
. Gail Gago was a union rep for nurses and is now a Labor MP, who btw was instrumental in shafting Mental Health in SA.
If you've had contact with the woman it becomes blaringly obvious loyalty to the cause and their Leaders was the only prerequisite in her being accepted into the LP, not competence
.
Yes, indeed! Calm, cold and calculating, waiting for exactly the right time to make her move. Let's see how long it lasts. The question for voters is can Labour be trusted to keep an elected prime minister for their full term? It would seem not!! Liberal looks dignified on this front.
I have been both an employee and an employer. I will put my employer's hat on for this post.
Anyone here who has never been an employer will not be able to see my point of view, and will attack me with gay abandon no doubt. That's fine, but after you've been an employer for a period of time, you might change your mind. You might see Unions as a bad thing generally.
Why?
The problem with unions is they just don't know when to stop. Nothing is ever enough.
Unions are constantly trying to better the workers conditions. Now, there is nothing wrong with this, but there needs to be a realistic limit. There needs to be a point where they (and all workers) step back and objectively observe what working conditions they enjoy.
What do I specifically mean by this?
Here are a few examples;
1. Paid Holidays - (screams of indignation now) Everyone gets paid their full amount of wage when they are not at work. Why should you get paid your FULL wage when you are not there doing anything at all? In my view, half pay is more than enough for a worker who is not there. Most times, the employer has to fill that void with another staff memeber on a higher rate of pay - a temp, or a casual, or another staff on overtime rates etc. It's a total joke, and costs jobs wholesale.
2. Paid Sick Leave - (more screams) same as above - make it half pay. In the automotive industry, they get 11 per year. They are not cumulative, so the staff make sure they are used. In nursing, it is cumulative. Cost more jobs.
3. Leave Loading - the biggest disgrace of all time. My staff are actually paid MORE when they are not at work. WTF? In my workshop, this means I not only have a bigger wage bill, but I have to book in less work. I make less money, and pay out more in wages.
Cost more jobs.4. Employer Contributed Super - I have to pay more for my staff costs because the average penguin is too stupid to make arrangements for their own retirement. This is of course built in to any product or service we all buy. Cost more jobs, and people think this will be enough for their retirement..guess the news.
5. Paid Maternity Leave - (huge screams now). Another enormous cost to the employer, and the void has to be filled by other more expensive staff. Cost more jobs and sadly; more female jobs.
Now, what is the ramification of all these lovely Union-won conditions?
The result is you have a Country like ours where almost all manufacturing has gone overseas, you have businesses operating with 5 staff instead of 8 or 9.
Existing manufacturing (especially larger scale) will continue to be bought out by o/s companies, and the profits leave our shores. Then you have KRudd or others attempting to tax the profits to keep some of it back in the country
In short, the longer term volume of employment will decline and/or the prices of all goods and services will go up - call centres overseas is one good example; cheaper labour than here.
In my view, the Unions have done their job and have long since oulived their usefulness. They can go home now before they do any more damage.
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I believe unions have their place, look back many years before they existed at how workers were treated. But as usual, no one is ever happy and the pendulum swings the other way.
I don't have a problem with paid annual leave, afterall, workers are often paid a set salary and often don't get paid over time (depending on type of profession I guess) so it's all built into the salary I believe. Sick pay, well there's an argument for saying it's just as cost effective to pay them to stay home, otherwise the germs come to work and what sort of productivity is there if more workers end up taking time off?
I do disagree with the leave loading, paid maternity leave and how difficult it is to sack a useless employee however.
It's just sad that there can't be a nice balance where employers and employees are happy. Everyone seems to want it all their way.
I don't have a problem with paid annual leave, afterall, workers are often paid a set salary and often don't get paid over time (depending on type of profession I guess) so it's all built into the salary I believe. Sick pay, well there's an argument for saying it's just as cost effective to pay them to stay home, otherwise the germs come to work and what sort of productivity is there if more workers end up taking time off?
I do disagree with the leave loading, paid maternity leave and how difficult it is to sack a useless employee however.
It's just sad that there can't be a nice balance where employers and employees are happy. Everyone seems to want it all their way.
i'd agree with you here
This one is very simple to solve. Don't hire permanent staff and keep rotating casual staff before they start enjoying benefits they get when they work long term.
Sure you'll have very high staff turnover, and the costs of training will skyrocket, and quality of work will probably drop, but at least you will save on the things you mentioned.
I'm old enough to remember the bad old days when unions were a necessary evil. The are just a bunch of leaches today, where the organizers etc are simply lining their own pockets.
But it isn't the unions that are forcing these expensive changes it is socialist governments and their "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" public servants. Why wouldn't the pollies be nice to their public servants? It is they who decide on polly wages after-all. All Mark mentions started in the Whitlam era when he had a deliberate policy of using the PS as the pace-setter and private enterprise had to follow. I am generally more tolerant of Whitlam than most because I remember how much he wanted to change things after a lifetime of liberals but believe this policy has been disastrous.
But it isn't the unions that are forcing these expensive changes it is socialist governments and their "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" public servants. Why wouldn't the pollies be nice to their public servants? It is they who decide on polly wages after-all. All Mark mentions started in the Whitlam era when he had a deliberate policy of using the PS as the pace-setter and private enterprise had to follow. I am generally more tolerant of Whitlam than most because I remember how much he wanted to change things after a lifetime of liberals but believe this policy has been disastrous.
Aren't the Nurses Union in SA and the SA Labor party one and the same
Gail Gago was a union rep for nurses and is now a Labor MP, who btw was instrumental in shafting Mental Health in SA.
If you've had contact with the woman it becomes blaringly obvious loyalty to the cause and their Leaders was the only prerequisite in her being accepted into the LP, not competence
Correct on every point. I always enjoyed defacing her posters.....I thought Gaol Gago was far more appropriate.
All sounds good, unless of course you're in an industry that suffers a lack of qualified workers who can pick and choose where they work.
All sounds good, unless of course you're in an industry that suffers a lack of qualified workers who can pick and choose where they work.
that's exactly my point
if you want qualified workers you have to pay for it
what a lot of employers fail to understand is that good workers are their main asset.
You're spot on about good workers being your main asset.
Didn't quite get your first statement:
Wouldn't work in my industry. Shortage of people puts them in a strong position to dictate terms ie. no casual employment (unless it suits them), training fruitless for first few years at which point they'll leave anyway, and quality of work dropping would in my business result in customers not returning as opposed to say office work without direct face to face interaction with clients and obvious results.
Sometimes I envy businesses like a cafe or convenience store where anyone off the street can be trained up pretty quickly as long as they have a good attitude and there's a long stream of people coming up behind them to take their place. Ah, but then I guess you have to have qualified cooks/chefs and you're back to square one above.
I thought the way they removed Rudd left a bit to be desired and did feel sorry for the guy.
Abbotts plan was released today...
http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-reveals-12point-plan-20100626-zajz.html
Always wondered if he'd convince Costello to join him (retirement pending...)
Then you'd have Abbott and Costello.
Abbotts plan was released today...
http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-reveals-12point-plan-20100626-zajz.html
Always wondered if he'd convince Costello to join him (retirement pending...)
Then you'd have Abbott and Costello.
Maybe Julia could coax Beasley back then we would have Kath and Kym instead. Boy are we in for trouble whatever happens, what a mob of incompetents.
Really? So after 60 years of continued infiltration, are they any closer? Well aside from everyone calling each comrade
If there is a real concern about communism/socialism, maybe people should be concentrating the recent US experience (bank bail out, GM purchase), UK (purchase of Northern Rock amongst others), we have approched nothing of this scale and magnitude.
The communist infiltration of unions was quite some time before the 50's actually, with the movement collapsing by late 50's early 60's.
Read up on Herbert Evatt and the Democratic Labor Party.
