Belly, I see many great qualities in you. I think that you
are a man of integrity and a man of great compassion, all things
to be very proud of. Good on you, be proud.

But at times I also see a man who wears his heart on his
sleeve and sometimes cannot face the realities of this world.
It does not go away when we wish it would. Farming taught me
how to deal with reality. If it doesen't rain, it doesent rain.
We have to accept it and find solutions, not dream of how
nice it would be, if it was raining.

Qantas staff are some of the most highly paid in the country.
They are not struggling, they are not battling. Don't
confuse where you invest your emotions, for the sake of
good old tribalism. But I know, your football team,
your party and your union, are all part of your tribe.

The Australian airline industry has to face the new reality,
or it will simply become a memory, as so many other Australian
industries have done in the past. The tears will come,
when the whole thing collapses, as Ansett staff learned
the hard way. I hope that Qantas are not next, but that
is up to their employees really.

Yabby,

Cost of labour aside.

The location of QANTAS in Australia is now a strike against efficiency. Not a problem in times of yore but with all the activity in Asian region QANTAS is now on the end of the piece of string when it should have its hub in the centre of activity to work to maximum effect.

Few operations locate the main base in the boonies which is effectively where QANTAS is now is from a business point of view. I know many Australians do not like the thought of Australia as a backwater location but we have become so over time.

Some very clever decisions need to be made by those involved.

Take it easy.

SD

Yabby all these imported Quasi American ideologies and social /economic theorems have distorted the Australian way of life. The trickle down effect I mentioned before, that no one has addressed is the one where you let the rich get richer and everyone lives better. It is a myth.

Why shouldn't business have a goal of creating secure jobs for their employee's ?.

What is it that compels Australian businesses to seek too create uncertainty for their employee's, and seek to diminish rights in the workplace under the banner of flexibility.

The law encourages this bottom feeder behaviour. And the economics are flawed.

The U.S, the most spectacularly failed democratic economy in the world has been running on such ideologies since the end of the 2nd World War. And look where it's got them.

Australia has always been a unique position and in my opinion not comparable to the world situation. Our economy currently is the envy of the world, our small population, specific environment, and isolation are unique, but our domestic conditions worsen for it's people, our living standards deteriorate, because we no longer have any structural, in law or actual power too affect our own future. The corporations control everything.

If the Gov't decides that it wants international mining giants to pay more tax, they just have a multi-million dollar advertising campaign touting misinformation and complete lies in league with their partners in media mogul-dom.

A farming example would be mention gas frakking at this point. Expect a Corporation to march onto your property Yabby, if it is in one of their target regions. Ironically the only political party that would support your rights to object in that situation would be the Greens. (lol)

All of these corporate decisions (not just paper entities Yabby) affecting our future go largely without restraint. Company's (particularly miners) ignore the environmental obligations of their licences (as has been the the subject of recent news), frequently, without Gov't doing something about this in most cases.

The link I'm providing is an example of when this gets too late.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/fishermen-breaking-out-in-boils-20111004-1l6x0.html

This is Qld specific in a Melbourne newspaper, you don't get this sort of news in Qld because the Murdoch Press controls all of your print media.

All of this out of control Corporate behaviour directly affects our future. Collective action may in the end be the only way even for farmers Yabby, to get justice and our children get a future in our unique and wonderful country, fast disappearing.

Unions/Associations of all colours may again become relevant but only changes in law can restore power to the people.

Shaggy, you are quite correct. The thing is, management has to
think about the next 20 years and make sure that the company will
stil exist. Sadly some of the unions are still dreaming about the
past. Jetstar in fact has its hub in Singapore and is making
good money. That is why Qantas management want to grow that model,
servicing 4 billion people in Asia. They can't do that out of
Sydney.

Thinker 2, disposable incomes for low and middle income earners
actually increased dramatically between 2000 and 2010 in real terms.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1370.0.55.001~2011~Main%20Features~Household%20economic%20wellbeing~18

The old Australian way that you dream of, collapsed when the merino
sheep collapsed, which bankrolled everything for decades. Australia
started facing a new reality when Keating made his banana republic
statement and he was right.

Australia has now joined the rest of the world. If you want a company
to exist just for the benefit of its members, then form
a coop. They exist, I am a member of one.

But if I save my pennies and eventually invest in a corporation,
whilst you blow your earnings say at the pokies, you can't then
turn around and say that my savings should be invested, just to give
you a job. For that is what you are saying.

If you want security, go and work for the Govt. They have the monopoly
and can waste taxpayers money to provide it for you.

If you work for a company, your job is as secure as their orders
and the health of that company. As they exist in a competitive market
they have no guarantees about the future, so why should you have one.

If Qantas can't sell tickets as they are too expensive, there will
be no Qantas. Just as there is no more Ansett

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/unions-split-over-qantas-war-as-paul-howes-warns-strikers/story-fn59noo3-1226164346308
This link fills me with pride.
UNIONS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE
How often have I said that?
Howes, make no mistake, is a giant of my union.
He like his mentor, and like him a hero of mine, Bill Shorten rode a very hard horse.
My PROUD AWU during an amalgamation that nearly killed it.
At times, both, had to take paths some would not agree with, but the end result?
AWU Lives still as it always did,with pride.
I thank you yabby, for your praise, but please know, this thread see,s me grab myself by the scruff of my own neck.
Then drag myself in then out of a well used pig pen.
Not every unionist agrees with me, but I see promise in the true path of future unions.
I am not serving my unions retired members YET it , one branch, serves under a tag not the AWU,brand I will not serve under yesterdays brand.
I am told unions want in the end,to kill Quantas, can you then justify that wage rise.
Friends, in internal flights in this country, please consider.
A drop in servicing standards is going to kill dreadful thing to say?
Would it be worse to know but not say it?
We, this country, once had thousands of shaggy dogs well trained and skilled we now export those jobs so why train.