Well Said!

*applause*

Ray Cleary finds it hard to believe that the Government’s intended changes to IR laws are not ideologically motivated. They probably are. All political parties have ideologies, and those of the Coalition were apparent before the last election when they said what they were going to do with IR.

But if his bio is correct: connection with the Uniting Church and Anglicare and associated welfare functions, Mr. Cleary’s concerns are also ideologically based.

Everybody has an axe to grind in the matter of industrial relations. So far we have only heard employers say the changes will be good, and the unions say they will be bad.

We should all cool off and wait to see what is actually entailed.

Show me a liberal government that has the workers' best interest at heart. Unions, and they have many faults, have, at least hit the goals for the workers, not the govt. Just watch every AIRC Living Wage case and hear what the govt (and employers) always says. "We can't afford a $12 increase in basic wage" And pocket their increases which are never thrown out to the general public. The obscenity in this govt is that they will and do! get their snoughty payouts/increases within a passed motion in Parliament and we only ever hear about it after it's already been passed thanks to the media. And read about some loser that's been appointed or head hunted by the govt to head up and "fix" certain outfits like banks etc., sits around for 12 months just sending emails back to his mates from another country and living off the purse. Deemed incompetent by the board that appointed him/her and sent packing with a very nice package. That is Animal Farm at it's most incogruous. And to think that we all thought George Orwell was talking communism!

All animals are equal. But the ones at the Paris end HAVE TWO LEGS... NOT FOUR. And a dirty big snout that fits rather snugly in the trough. No Clovers or Boxers here, just dogs, thinking we're all Molly's. Sorry if I'm raving but getting really annoyed at the whole philosphy of this govt. And we all know what happened to Boxer. Be very, very alarmed.

The claim that the US minimum wage is set a US$5 per hour misses the fact that the individual states are free to set a higher minimum and most do.

Australia should have no national minimum wage and give the power to legislate such a thing to local councils. That way the minimum could be set according to the economic and social circumstances as judged by individual communities

,Terje wrote: The claim that the US minimum wage is set a US$5 per hour misses the fact that the individual states are free to set a higher minimum and most do.

The fact that the individual states are free to set higher minimum wages does not in fact occur in most states in the USA. Many workers who previously worked for commission (long hours to achieve good results) are often given a low minimum wage with a small percentage of commission 'once targets are reached'. These targets often change each month, with the result that many workers in areas such as sales, take home a salary of $1,500.00 per month. Some of these sales people were earning $125,000 three years ago, and now can barely afford to live. Large retail outlets are the worse offenders of this mode of employment and wages, and they have been gradually lowering the income of their workers over the past 15 years.
Companies well known around the world are some of the the greatest offenders. I have known people to leave one job at the end of their shift, and go to another just to pay the rent, let alone have any disposable income. Some companies even have forms there for employees to fill out for low income housing (how considerate of them!) No overtime. No sick leave (casual) No paid days off (casual)
There is no ideology in the IR reforms. It is just a matter of political gain, reaping wealth for the haves and leaving the have nots to rot on the ground like discarded fruit crops. It is not a matter of the Unions bashing Governments, it is a matter of the rights of workers, the rights of humans and the rights of families to exist.
The short time we have had rights as workers has always been under threat by Governments, and it is time that people realise just what is really at stake. Little Johnny Howard is not a man who cares for the battler. It was just lip service - now THAT'S politics!

I am one of the disabled people with limited bargaining power that Ray Cleary mentioned in this article. I am fearful of what the future holds in store for me. I can't work full-time, and the Government is steadily scaling back the Disability Support Pension along with these IR reforms. This is hardly fair, or humane. The Coalition has systematically perverted or destroyed so many of the things that I love most about this country.