The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Under Labor, 'no ticket, no start' is back > Comments

Under Labor, 'no ticket, no start' is back : Comments

By Joe Hockey, published 2/5/2007

Its conference showed that the Australian Labor Party is in cahoots with the unions.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. ...
  6. 8
  7. 9
  8. 10
  9. Page 11
  10. 12
  11. All
Bushbasher comments on Hockey being referred to as a tool. Twice on this thread where he is also referred to as a front rower.

I go further. I would suggest he has the, err, ability to be the entire front row. Hope the opposing hooker has a very good mouthguard. I mean, have you seen Mr H standing up straight in all his suited glory? He holds two seats at least.
Posted by RobbyH, Saturday, 5 May 2007 2:27:29 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Under Workchoices its currently "No AWA, no start".

There are 306,393 AWAs lodged with government but the mining industry accounts for only 22,000 AWAs. The miners in WA may be contented but at least one miner in NSW was not happy to sign a contract that penalised her $200 for failing to call in sick 12 hours before start of shift.

"Last month the Herald revealed that based on the Government's own unpublicised figures 45 per cent of AWAs lodged had stripped away all of the award conditions the Government promised would be "protected by law" under Work Choices.

"The same figures showed conditions were stripped from most agreements examined by the Office of the Employment Advocate, set up to police Work Choices. Shift loadings were removed in 76 per cent of the agreements, annual leave loading was removed in 59 per cent, incentive payments in 70 per cent and public holidays in 22.5 per cent." see http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/work-test-will-pass-thousands-by/2007/05/04/1177788400641.html

There is also a rise in openly unfair actions taken by employers. see http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/no-fairness-test-for-teens-on-front-line-of-ir-change/2007/05/04/1177788399422.html

ABS “reported that 1.12 million employees in Australia are working as contractors, a number almost five times higher than previous estimates. Contractors are workers engaged to perform a given service or project at an agreed price: think consultant engineers, IT professionals or your local master plumber.

“Those working on a contract basis were most common in education, health care, retail trade, professional services and construction.

“Alongside this phalanx of newly discovered contractors (in earlier surveys the statistician did not count how many employees with leave entitlements worked on a contract basis), the bureau found there were 1.22 million owner-managers of unincorporated businesses, and 673,000 owner-managers of incorporated businesses.”

“Put all of these people together and it turns out that 3 million of Australia's 10 million-plus workforce are "enterprise workers" - small-business owners, franchisees, consultants, contractors, farmers and the self-employed - whose allegiance is neither to union nor to employer, but to themselves. “

“By comparison there are 1.79 million union members.”

See http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/memo-to-labor-how-about-the-other-3-million/2007/05/04/1177788400644.html

I am a reluctant contractor who wants award protection.
Posted by billie, Saturday, 5 May 2007 11:24:18 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I think a lot of people don't realise this debate over how people decide to arrange their employment with prospective as well as their current employers is only occurring because of the unusual economic conditions of nearly full employment and shortages of skilled workers. Similar happened in the '50's and 60's. Then it was the unions who won higher pay and 'perks'. I wonder how much higher the 'pay and perks' would have been had there been AWA's? Realistically I think they wouldn't have gained much more or less. I think my point is clear.

I think if a downturn ever occurs, unemployment rises or the ratio of skilled to unskilled alters in favour of the skilled then the wages and conditions offered by employers, faced with less competition in finding staff, will drastically fall.

It's a temporary debate. At the moment economic conditions favor those who have real flexibility in negotiating their own conditions and wages.

When the reverse applies we'll see union membership rise and a much greater aggitation in the wider community (Not just Union and media circles) for the abolishing of any AWA's that are truely unfair, as they really do start to hack away at conditions and wage rates.

I'm all in favour of making hay while the sun shines. I think in a Australia that's seen as a fair go.

I also think John Howard's re-instatement of a stronger 'No disadvantage test' on incomes up to $75,000 reasonable and truely a fair go for ...'battlers'.
Posted by keith, Saturday, 5 May 2007 1:50:52 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
"I am a reluctant contractor who wants award protection."

The other option of course is to be a great contractor,
so that it is in companies interests to hire you!

This whole debate is playing out in France, the country
with heaps of rules, regulations, lurks and perks.

Ms Royale, the well meaning motherly type who wants to
be French prez, sadly doesn't have a clue about
economics and markets. She wonders why smart young
people are heading for London or America. She wonders
why French wages are relatively low by European standards.
She wonders why French unemployment is so high. She
wonders why large French companies are quietly upping
stumps and moving elsewhere, even high tech companies.

So she thinks even more lurks and perks, rules and regulations
will solve it. I guess she might learn the hard way.

It sounds like there are plenty of Aussies who don't understand
either. Its a global economy folks, wake up!
Posted by Yabby, Saturday, 5 May 2007 2:50:18 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
And we should trust the impartial apolitical advice of ex Howard staffer Heather Ridout and ex Peter Reith staffer Peter Hendy, right?

Give me a break.

I grew up in small business and `have many family members in big business. But I will not be fooled by the garbage from Mr Howard and Joey Hockey
Posted by Ange, Monday, 7 May 2007 11:05:52 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hey Gadget your post is absolute nonsense. However i wish you were correct. Imagine Peter Hendy and Heather Ridout attempting to fill the 'G' in protest against new laws that provide balance in the workplace.
They couldnt fill a phone box, even if they could find one.
Posted by hedgehog, Monday, 7 May 2007 4:01:53 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. ...
  6. 8
  7. 9
  8. 10
  9. Page 11
  10. 12
  11. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy