So Lexi, why can't the likes of Qantas seek a batter deal on wages, after all, they are subjected to international competitors, paying far less.

You cant intrOduce competition then expect the local businesses to remain taking it up the rear end, can you?

Qantas is justbthe beginning as this will become a huge issue as many today are enjoying wages and conditions that were obtained through an imbalance between supply and demand. Well the pendulum has swung back, so these conditions must either be wound back, or, we will loose our businesses as they will set up elsewhere.

Of cause, you can sit ther and assume we are in great shape, as this foolish government would have us believe.

After 23 odd years in business myself, I am closing my shop as I have had enough, and I am not alone.

You can't just keep expecting business to prop up the cost of living when times are tough.
As I have said before, brace yourselves!

Dear rehctub,

I'm sorry to hear that you're closing up shop.

I've always believed that in order for a business
to be competitive you have to produce a better
product than the competition or offer better service
than others do. Resting on one's laurels and doing
what doesn't work any longer is not the answer.

Also as I wrote on another thread - critical times
require a reassessment of the relationship between
labour and capital, a reassessment which takes into
account the politics of industrial democracy, profit
and job sharing, and long term planning.

What it does
not need is "kick the worker today and take the money
tomorrow," attitude that comes from so many managers
around today. The only way in which a company can work
properly is for management and its workforce to co-operate
with one another, not condemn one another. Unfortunately
condemnation is the only language that some managers
appear to understand.

to be competitive you have to produce a better
product than the competition or offer better service
Lexi,
Not to forget the economic status of the country the business is in. No point offering great service when no-one can afford it. It'll be an absolute miracle if Qantas doesn't follow Ansett. Keep in mind our economy can't handle any more hick-ups after the live export fiasco & the wave of internet shopping. Kevin Rudd has nothing to offer there because it'd need more than just academic rhetoric.

Ar Lexi, I see you conveniently forgot to mention union in your equation.

I am closing as the centre I am in is half what it was, yet the landlord, in all thier wisdom, have decided to once again, up the rent.

The end result for them, and many to follow, will be a collapse of their centers, watch and you will see.

Here in QLD, our Anna has decided to grant workers another public holiday, and get this, to get over the big weekend of footy finals.

It,s yet another example of just how out of touch our politicians are with what makes the wheels turn.

I recon it's a parting guesture of soughts.

Qantas, unlike Ansett, will not fold as they have a very profitable domestic business, however, they will either pay their international staff less, or they will take that business elsewhere. An who can blame them for that.

Tell Slarti-Bardfast of Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy fame that one Individual . If your product is good enough it creates it's own market , it finds its own level, its own provides its own niche.

Your referring to the negative adversarial politics introduced to Australia by John Howard, Lexi. It has now become the norm in our country much to its detriment.