"You may not believe that we have any particular right to a living wage or fair and decent working conditions but the vast majority think otherwise."

I said no such thing. My point is that you don't understand
business or economics, perhaps you've never tried to run one.
You are free to try and see how you go.

At the end of the day, its not business that pays your wages
or conditions, but consumers. If business can't sell your labour
and make a profit, they close. Social welfare is the role of
Govt, not business. So you can claim all the benefits you
want, if consumers won't pay, time to shut the show down.
Thats the reality. Job creation schemes don't solve anything,
as we have shown in the past.

Now lets say I run a business and win a contract, so employ
30 extra staff. Great, everyone benefits. There are no guarantees
that I will win another. If I don't, I'll have to fire those
staff, I can't pay them to twiddle their thumbs. If you then
want huge payouts, even when you might walk out the door and start
another job elesewhere tomorrow, why should I risk hiring you
in the first place? I would be foolish, and business is not
about being foolish. So then of course you'll complain that
there are no jobs. Well duh, blame yourself for not understanding
the system.

At the end of the day, consumers hire workers, business is just the
middle man. But of course you will continue to shoot the messenger.

Gday fozz nice to see you active here, can we take a breath?
Some said workers are not much less than slaves?, is it not clear workers too are small business people selling their time and outputs to live.
Why value a bosses product so much higher than a worker?
Why is it ok for a boss to want wealth but not or a worker to want a better lifestyle?
And from what distant place has the idea come that in an IR dispute the boss is a saint and the worker the sinner?
Such thoughts exist and are a sign that conservatives in this country like their leader John Howard are past it.
The coming electoral train wreck is richly deserved.

Demos as we can see run your party line and do as you are told.
there is always something we can do about it.

nothing you can do about it. being australian, there's nothing you can do about anything. politics is not for your class, my girl, it's a reserved occupation, pollies only.
Posted by DEMOS, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 3:41:10 PM

Belly please explain why the labor party wishes to open another uranium mine but forbid using it here, hypocrites.

Also about the right to strike this will only be during a bargening period.
what happens with safety you cant go on strike just wait until somebody dies, hang on cant go on strike then either.

Belly labor may give the people, overtime,public holidays but not the right to strike unless during a bargening period and and also a secret ballot, common whats happened to rights.

Oh belly what is the going rate for labor and the unions nowadays, seems that you are pretty cheap.

I am so waiting for Greg Combet to come to this safe charlton seat, lets see how safe it will be.

Tapp will fight and tapp will stand up to you from the common people.

www.tapp.org.au

"Tapp will fight and tapp will stand up to you from the common people."

A tapp-dance or a political soft-shoe shuffle?

To those questioning it. No I am not in paid employment. The ALP and the union movement effectively prevented that...yes, the very groups that are supposed to be "for a worker's rights".
Then there is the small matter of the fact that employers take on many risks that the employee does not take on.
I still believe employees are servants. That most certainly does not mean they are without rights but it does mean they have obligations. Obligations are what most Australians do not want to know about. There seems to be a culture in Australia which says "aren't you lucky that I have agreed to work with you" rather than a "thankyou for having the faith in me that I can do the work you need done and let's get on with it as a team" culture. The latter will get us a long way further than the former. In the end what happens with the former attitude is that jobs go off-shore and nobody benefits - and that lack of benefit extends to the unlucky individuals who end up working in sweat shops because our labour has priced itself out of the market.

Tapp I doubt you and I can talk much more, you are aware are you not, you have zero political skills, understanding, and chance of making any impact?
And back to the thread a unionist can be a friend of the boss!
Yes true the thought that unions must be at war with every employer is tripe!
And no problem with a firms owner making fair and worthwhile profits from his investments.
But yes a worker has rights and they need them some bosses are not nice people.
How can any one say some workers will never own a home? in the case of casuals maybe never even own a car?
Some who work are battling just to feed the kids.
A group of NSW based construction workers had the boss invite them to come to Queensland with him.
He said they had earned it by great efforts.
On arrival that international team of grubs!
Refused to pay living away from home or caravan allowance!
Yet these his prime workers[his words] pay $600 a week for a caravan.
Safety is so bad one death and two near death events have taken place in the first months of work.
Not all bosses are saints.
Not all unionists are wrong.
Strike? yes always we must have that right.