Sounds a bit like socialism Yabby!

Nah Tao, in socialism the govt bureaucrats run things and screw
everybody! As nothing is done efficiently everybody loses.

Take a look at a country like Switzerland, its not exactly
socialist. No natural resources, yet they have had some
of the highest wages and standards of living on the planet.

They did it just through alot more intelligent thinking then
the Brits ever did. Sadly the Aussies also inherited some
bad things from Britain and industrial relations and treatment
of workers is one of them, thus the situation here.

Capital and labour can in fact work together for the benefit
of all, as has been shown.

One thing that would obviously go over Howards head is that he is trying to treat humans like domesticated animals. Unlike cattle workers have to work and not just stand there and get milked or have a bolt shot into their head. Even the most mundane tasks are cerebal. The most inefficient thing a manager can do is create an unhappy workforce as being human the workers will spend more time resisting processes and spend more time complaining. Even well behaved workforces in developing world workshops work slowly and with low quality. Like everything when it comes to workers, you get what you pay for. Except the trades which seem to have no relationship between fee and quality.

I think that you are blaming the wrong fellow there West. You
are correct, bad management is a huge issue and is also common.
Managers who lack people skills etc. Next thing noses are out
of joint, next thing there is industrial warfare. But thats not
a political problem. Its a bad management problem!

There is more to going to work then just money. If you
enjoy doing what you do, if there is a happy work environment,
if there is a purpose, if everyone can contribute to bring
about changes, these are all issues. Thats what good management
is all about.

AWAs are not the problem there. They can in fact be beneficial,
it just depends on the circumstances of each case. So its
not black and white, as you suggest. But yup, bad management,
lack of people skills etc, is a huge issue, I agree.

From The Age Monday March 27th 2007 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/workplace-law-still-loathed-poll/2007/03/25/1174761282553.html

" a survey by Griffith University's David Peetz, commissioned by the Victorian Industrial Relations Department, found hourly pay rates for non-managers on Australian Workplace Agreements had fallen by 3.3 per cent. But Professor Peetz found the high pay of AWA workers in Western Australia's mining industry distorted this figure: in Victoria, employees on AWAs were paid 12 per cent less than those on collective agreements.

"The study found women on AWAs earned 19 per cent less than men, and the pay gap between men and women had widened after WorkChoices.

"That is, 70 per cent of the gains achieved over 10 years had been wiped off in nine months of WorkChoices," the professor wrote."

- - - - - - -

"Professor Peetz's study found job numbers were up by 2.6 per cent in the first 11 months of WorkChoices, which the Government attributed to employers being more willing to risk hiring workers because they were easier to sack.

"But he found jobs growth was lower than the 3.9 per cent growth after Labor introduced unfair dismissal laws in 1994."

Oh I am sure, that various spin will be published on this topic.
Numbers can be crunched to show all sorts of things. They will
of couse ignore the many variables, like droughts etc.

Fact is that long term Australia is best served by a flexible
and dynamic economy, where people are rewarded for effort and
Aussie companies can compete on the global scene.

For some people AWAs are perfect. For those less talented,
perhaps they need a union. Perhaps both should be allowed,
so that people can do whatever they think and companies can
choose who they hire.

The smartest companies will hire the smartest people, who are
usually those who can paddle their own canoe. It pays to pay
them extra, as they make largest profits for the company.

The thing is, Aus rode on the sheep's back until it collapsed,
now its riding on the mining boom. At some point all these little
rorts have to end and people have to understnd that their wages
are a cost to consumers, its them who are paying the bill, not
companies.

I've known people who obtained huge redundancy payouts, then
started work the following week with some other mob. Father
Christmas was very generous! To me thats thuggery.

No wonder most companies try to hire casual staff or use hire
labour companies. Rates per hour might be high, but its far
cheaper then signing your life away, if you decide to hire
permanent staff, under many union agreements.

There are employers who try to screw the system and there are
workers who try to screw the system. To claim that either is
perfect, is total folly.