hi rechtub,
$34 hr for labouring work ? I had a beer with two labourers last night & was told they get $38 but they get no holiday or sick pay etc. A public servant gets that & doesn't have to worry about a thing for all his life. That is the un-balance I'm talking about. You may believe differently on this one but, I think that anyone who's body is subjected to wear & tear at work is entitled to at least the same remuneration as one who sits comfortably at a desk. You can see it every day where office workers go jogging after work but how many menial i.e. physically employed do have that energy left after 8 hrs. In general most workers I have known did not get to enjoy retirement as did schoolies & bureaucrats. I agree that supply & demand work in boom times but, when things go slow it's the menial task worker who's bank account is well below that of bureaucrats. The employer who risks his money to make more is entitled to do so as is the employee who wears out his body. We must keep in mind that no construction is possible by just drawing a plan. Without the physical worker a plan is useless as is a task without a plan.
It is a symbiosis. Bureaucracy on the other hand simply lives off the former & is not affected by the leaner times. A worker & employer have to contribute to super out of their own pocket, bureaucrats don't. That is my whole point re balance.

Another aspect of it all is that, as a casual employee it is very difficult to obtain finance. So far as boom & bust times are concerned we must have a minimum wage because there simply is a minimum someone can exist on.

"Long term unemployed"? Long term unemployed what?

They are PEOPLE. Give them some little stature, please.

I all too often hear about those unemployed who just don't want to work. Yes they are around with the compliments of bureaucracy which does nothing to force healthy young people to pull their weight. It's that very same bureaucracy which forces older people who have worked all their lives to do even more work. The whole system is one big bloody mess. The imbalance is criminal & to top it off, it's all sanctioned by the unions who are supposed to ensure "fairness". Fairness for whom I ask. When the higher ranking get a payrise it's always 8 %. when workers get a payrise it's always $8 a week. Grab a cheap calculator & put in 8% of $100,000 & then compare it to 52 X $8. That's the difference. Oh, and don't forget to take out the tax from the eight bucks. Workplace agreements or not, the imbalance will continue & every payrise the workers receive will be just enough to cover the union fees.

Individual you point out that a labourer gets paid $38 per hour. Well here is the core of the problem. $38 per hour is simply a case of the industry holding the country to ransom because of a skill shortage. Many workers holding trades, butchers, and chefs to name a few don't even get close to this.

As for your comment about office workers, well everyone is provided with an equal opportunity with ample educational option available from a young age. It's often up to the individual whether they become a bureaucrat or a labourer!

Also, many would argue that 'brain strain' is very taxing.

Another aspect of it all is that, as a casual employee it is very difficult to obtain finance.

The only guarantee within full time work is that the employee gets to leave when it suits them. Often at a very inconvenient time.

Full time employment should work both ways, but it doesn't!

Unfair dismissal was the major creator of casual work and most business people will take the memory of these laws to their graves.

Blame the people who took sickies, stole from their boss, treated their boss with total disrespect, all under the protection of unfair dismissal laws. They are the cause of casual employment, not employers!

GINX
Well done, no personal attack, I'm impressed!

Some of that anti worker stuff rehctub is warn out and wrong, yes some used the old unfair dismissal laws to plunder!
I may fall out with some in my union movement but I have seen it , but only a few times not every day.
Wage rises of $8? bitterness there individual! do you mean minimum? if so do you understand most on minimum are not paying union dues?
Unions get on average 4% not often less than 3% via agreements a year wage rises.
Back to the casuals in construction, some get far less than $38, some I see today are paid under workchoices agreements $22 no holidays no sick leave no hope no future.
If they come to me, even to say Gday they will not be back at work tomorrow.
Or ever fair go mate, still has meaning in my Australia individual mate, tell me what hope do these non union members have if I do not try to help?
Yes to my fellow welded on trade unionists, some who are union should not be in the building with a mop and bucket in their hands but the movement is better than them.