TBC you and I are never going to agree.
I find the very left lost and uninformed, thankfully there are very few of them.
A union in my view exists for workers and a fair go at work.
Country workers can work three shifts or very early starts.
Union offices do not exist behind gum trees, if service is your task early starts later finishes are just normal.
Frankly your contributions to the thread are helping prove Rudd is ok.
And in my view you are out of touch with workers.
Some thrive on 12 hour days 4 days a week.
unions that forget why we exist are bound to die.
Please explain to me how I visit a crew 2 hours drive away at 6.30 am without an early start.
Or another same day, who start a night shift at PM and want a 6.30 pm visit?

Well Belly, I didn't realise you are a union organiser...if that is what you are... sounds like it anyway.

But is also sounds like you are working the old model, a service model, doing all the work for the members instead of training them up to look after themselves.

Servicing members is a no-win job.

(You wouldn't be with Australia's Worst Union would you? Or worse, the SDA?)

It never is enough, and you cannot be everywhere at once.

Sounds like you need a dose of job redesign, to me.

And to trust your members more to look after themselves better...having first provided the where-with-all of course.

I'll be glad when Rudd goes, but I fear his replacement might be just as bad, be it Abbott or Gillard.

They both hate workers and love bosses.

I imagine if you were working for Russ Hinze or Terence Lewis, the heaviest thing you'd have to lift would be a brown paper bag and then not have to remember where it came from eh?

TBC no not in the CFMEU, and gave up that communist rot with my second teeth.
Service is owed to every member they do not pay to be able to look after them selves.
I am content to be judged by those who matter most, my members.AN increasing number came from unions that think service is old fashioned.
Leave you to play in your sandbox bloke I have a trip to take mates/members to see.

Belly.... Australia's Worst Union is the AWU.... that's what the letters stand for old boy.

The other one, the CFMEU, is almost as bad.

Voted for Howard, has ratbags at the top who do 'run throughs' and bring all 'workers' into disrepute, which is why they are known as Can't F..k Much Else Up, the real meaning behind CFMEU.

Your old style unionism shows through here:

"I have a trip to take mates/members to see".... too bad about 'the sheilas' I suppose, ... how can they be seen as 'mates' when there were none to be seen in the trenches at Gallipoli?

"Service is owed to every member they do not pay to be able to look after them selves"... oh dear, you miss the point entirely don't you?

If you act as a 'father' and control all the solutions to the members problems then they never get a chance to grow up and become mature employees capable of dealing with their supervisors/employers in an intelligent manner.

Providing a 'service' does not mean traipsing around the countryside like a blue-arsed fly, achieving very little in the long term, and almost nothing in the short term...or at least, not much beyond once you are back in your flying-office and gone to 'solve' the next problem your members have no idea how to handle, because you hold all the solutions.

Time to give up your 'arcane priestly power', and start to teach members how to do it for themselves.

Let's face it, you'll still be working hard whilst ever our schools keep churning out compliant unquestioning worker-drones who have no idea how to question anything in front of their eyes.

TBC

Unions are far from perfect. However, when I suffered a workplace injury had I not been in the CPSU I would've faired far worse than I did.

Now the Union Official who represented my claim didn't even like me very much (it was one of those instant personality clashes - I am the type who asks questions, he was the type who expected to not explain anything), but after complaining to the CPSU leader, he finally did the minimal to help me - even that was better than nothing. Due to the long time spent litigating my health worsened and I no longer work full-time. However, even minimal help from a worker's union is better than nothing at all.

Suffice to say that my experience has made me very discerning regarding how bosses treat workers.

I imagine Rudd is hard - but I also think he works even harder than his staff - I don't think he's an actual bully just impatient. He simply doesn't have the time to waste bullying his staff. If you are doing your job properly, you shouldn't be actively abusing people. I have worked in tough situations dealing with everyone from ex crims, to police, to druggies, refugees - I was always inspired by leaders who lead by example and worked hard. It took a lot to break me, but a combination of events including continual harassment finally brought me down.

I could name names of pollies who really did harass their staff - I know from speaking directly with ex-staff, but on top of all my problems I really don't need to be accused of slander.

In conclusion, there are far worse bosses than Rudd and we still need unions to protect workers from them.