"Labor’s plan to replace individual contracts with collective awards for those earning under $100,000 destroys choice and the opportunity to negotiate better pay and conditions."

No, it doesn't.

Next.

Arjay,
The reason that personal debt is so high is because people have borrowed so much - probably in the mistaken belief that things were allegedly going so well for the economy and that it would last forever.

Now with increasing under-employment, comparatively decreasing wages and the reduction in job security due to Workchoices, reality is fast approaching for many people.

The Government built up an illusion of increasing personal wealth and now kicked the chair out from under a lot of people.

It's also got little to do with competing with China. Local businesses will outsource to China or India regardless.

For an employer to outsource overseas, the cost reduction must be at least 50% of the local costs to make it worthwhile. Are you willing to take a 51% pay cut, just to keep your job? I suspect not.

Workchoices is soley about increasing local profits and taking the unions out of the equation.

It's the long-held ambition of the H.R. Nicholls Society and Costello is a founder member.

This, along with the GST and the selling-out of public assets will be a long term legacy that will haunt them in years to come.

Gday Tapp last or second last in Charlton less than 1.000 votes no reason to claim deeper understanding.
Communicat, not ALP blindness not union victory IR reform in the form most Australians want it.
This thread is a symptom.
Of the very real gap in Liberal understanding of why the polls are so badly against them.
One foot in front of the other blindly wading deeper into the mud, how do they turn around if mid campaign Howard waters down workchoices,? he may very well do so.

Communicat, I am on an AWA. Prior to that a common law contract. My AWA has made me marginally better off, as I have increased sick leave entitlements (I now get 10 days a year instead of 8, and they accumulate where they didnt before). But I work in an industry where wages are directly linked to productivity and individual results and have been for decades, so common law contracts to recognise individual effort have been commonplace for some time. There has also been a labour shortage in the field for many years and will continue to be so for the forseeable future, so that puts the employee in a strong bargaining position.

My concern over the current legislation is that contracts suit some industries and bulk agreements suit others. And the article was blatant and poorly written propoganda. With arguments and construction such as was used I am very surprised that the author managed to graduate - my law professors certainly required a much higher standard.

Now look here. Work Choice only got a bad name because those Bully Boy Unionists gave unreasonable information. I recommend that all those that were swayed by those Bully boy Adverts should ask for The Workplace Fact Sheet which gives you your rights and obligations. We cannot be sacked by a small business with under 100 employees. We may have scrapped the unfair dismissal laws but I am sure that an employee would get reinstated if they were sacked for joining a union because Barbara Emmett assures us. Our Government would not pay large sums of money for adverts and tell us untruths and details that were incorrect. I am pleased that our Government has counter acted the scare mongering put out by the Bully Boy tactics of Trade Unions. People now realise that the New Industrial Relations Laws are now fair for employees.

Now Look John Howard has been misunderstood.
We have nothing against Collective Bargaining the only thing wrong with it is that it puts an Employer at a disadvantage. Our Party believes in a fair go So please give our Companies a chance to make their profits. $16 dollars an hour is a reasonable wage and Carers should think their selves lucky that they have a job. It is important that Companies do make big profits for the benefit of our shareholders otherwise we would take our Companies abroad and set up in China. We must have flexibilty in the Workplace and the Australian Government Workplace Authority now gives us that. I urge you all to phone 1300 363 264 and learn the ral facts. We cannot allow Trade Unions to have right of Entry to check on other employees wages. This is private it is imperative that each employee can earn for their devotion to the Company and their supervisor. It is not logical that all employees should earn the same money for doing the same job. Some Employees may have better interpersonal skills. All this rubbish that some teachers have to teach in hard to teach schools. This is why we must bring in Performance Management on teachers so that The Principal can favour who they want for promotion and higher pay. We must have all teachers on individual work place agreements and once they have signed that contract we can make sure that they will perform better. Behavour Management is the responsibility of the class teacher and not the Principal, Deputy or Head of Department.