http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Fears-over-Fair-Works-union-bias-report-pd20120220-RNNGZ?OpenDocument&src=hp14

With 80% of the FWA tribunal being stuffed with Union officials, it is no surprise that the outcomes of the tribunal seem almost without exception to follow the desires of the unions. It is also of no wonder that Australia's productivity is experiencing a decline and companies are closing down.

This might also explain the 3 years taken to adjudicate the Craig Thomson corruption and theft case.

Yes SM, I think I recall you supporting me three plus years ago when we warned this would happen and that jobs would be lost.

Of cause we were accused of being il informed and crying wolf.

I also warned that these IR changes would effect business confidence, again, I was laughed at.

Nobody is laughing now.

I doubt your thread will get much response though, as these same people don't like to admit they are wrong, rather, they just move on and avoid the issue.

Let's see!

I can rebut this with ease but it would not get past SM,or many.
No easy task industrial relations.
Work choices was the only reason Howard was not PM still today.
Abbott knows this, is unlikely to return to those days.
I can see improvements we need in current system, but it is rubbish, to make the claim made here.
What is the out comes CONSERVATIVES, Liberals no longer hold a sway in our Parliament, is it class warfare?
Remember they took arbitration out of the system.
I claim no halo for unions, if fact some are damaging the movement.
But warn my country will suffer if for profit sake, we harm fairness in work place.
Watch carefully the intentions of conservative Liberalism in this area, are some to be forever poor to make others richer? it appears so.

Belly,

With 11 of the 14 tribunal members ex union officials, I look forward to your rebuttal.

IR has regressed under Labor to before the reforms under Keating.

Fair Work Australia is without doubt the largest single contributor to the breakdown of management/worker relations that this country has ever seen.

Forget the adjudication mechanism for a moment, and look at the guidelines that they work from.

http://www.fwa.gov.au/index.cfm?pagename=disputegeneral

The buzzword around the traps right now is "Adverse Action", which an employee can call down upon an employer at the drop of the proverbial hat. The employer's "crime" can be almost anything that a lazy employee, who would rather be paid to do nothing, can dream up.

Your manager has a friendly, informal chat with you about your performance? Cry "Adverse Action - I am being bullied!"

One of your workmates says something derogatory about your weight? Cry "Adverse Action - management allows bullying in the workplace!"

The burden of proof, incidentally, is not on the complainant - by the very fact that they have lodged the complaint, they have created the evidence that demonstrates "Adverse Action".

How good is that?

These are not examples that I have invented, by the way, they are happening right now. And the unions are behind them every step of the way, because the massive administrative overheads the business incurs in preparing a defence against even the most trivial allegation are becoming a significant bargaining tool for them.

It is, from my point of view, the single most compelling reason to get rid of this government. They have not the slightest clue how business works.

Mind you, nor did Joe Hockey, when he was "Minister for Small Business". But that's a story for another day.

They had a leadership blue. What has business got to do with it. Who is going to get the first class seat on to the world stage.

Today JWH would with no doubt, be prime minister still.
Without work choices.
That is the truth.

Belly,

I agree that workchoices was the cause of JH's loss. And there is no doubt that he went too far. However, the fair work act has now swung the pendulum back way too far ripping away reforms of even the previous labor government.

This thread is about Labor bastardizing the process even further by appointing to the "independent tribunal" essentially union henchmen. This means that there is no chance of businesses receiving any where near a fair hearing. And any union is emboldened to use dirty tricks as the worst that will happen is that they will be judged by their mates.

The only way to keep jobs when the dollar increases is to increase productivity, the alternative is to see wide spread rationalizations as is beginning to happen now.

It was disappointing to see during the Estimates process that FWA is not releasing the delegate's report on the Thomson affair. There may be valid reasons relating to privacy of individuals (other than Thomson) but if that is indeed the case, names, places and other telling information can easily be redacted. Afterall governments are good at redaction even with in-principle commitments to more open and honest government.

How many have stood before an industrial judge and been flogged by an ex union man?
Many if not most who I stood before as arbitrators had been union men.
Howard was a politician.
Few want to hear that, but some basics he knew are yet to be learned by Labor.
This thread is not one of them.
His rule of his party was to stop such as Gillards rise and fall, fall she will if not Monday even harder soon.

Workchoices, as I recall - produced no increase in productivity either, unless you define productivity as simply producing more by paying employees less.

Two words come to mind.

A JOKE!

Wobbles,

Work choices had only just been implemented, given that it takes a while for results to show, your comment is ill informed.

What we did see was a drop in casual employment, and a spike in full time employment. Notably we are seeing the opposite under the FWA.

Getting back to the topic, I earlier started a thread titled "is the FWA corrupt or incompetent?" Today, I think the answer is both.

I don't know anyone, with skills, who was worse off under WC.

To the country, I know plenty who are worse off under the new IR system.

Many in the hospitality industry no longer work on Sundays, or public holidays, simply because their workplace no long opens on these days.

Prior to FWA, the bosses were happy, the staff were happy and the customers were happy.

If ain't broken, don't fix it.

With every passing day that this Thompson affair stays unresolved, FWA looses credibility.

The sorted the Qantas dispute out quite quickly, yet have been on this case for three years or more.

That says it all.

Perhaps they to have strings that the faceless men pull.

WC caused the demise of Howard, but you know better.
All you can do is wait for FWA to conclude to see if there is a charge to be answered. The chances are it will not be disclosed if it has to do with court.

579, I don't deny the effects WC had on Howard, but I still don't know anyone who was effected by WC.

Labor just ran the biggest negative fear campaign.

579, looking at the cafes and restaurants that have chosen to close Sundays and public holidays, solely due to wage constraints, how do you think these staff now feel about then then employment minister, Julia Gillards statement, 'no worker will be worse off under the FWA laws'.

Considering many have actually lost their shifts, if not their jobs, how can anyone say no worker will be worse off?

I say again, everyone was happy, appart from the government, the unions and their backers, who collectively can't help but put their noses in to other people's business.

At the time of WC, anyone effected, and I don't know any, could have simply gone next door and got a job. A real job, not an under employment job, a
Real job.

Now please explain to me, what was wrong with that situation.

Butch what you are talking about has nothing to do with wages. People are not spending money that is not necessary. If the custom was there they would be open, no one will open for no reason. To magically blame wages now, is shortsighted.
There are 120,000 unfilled jobs available in Australia.

579,

So you are an expert on retail, and the service sector? Funny how all the industry leaders are contradicting you.

The inflexible penalty rates for working on a weekend are the reason that these businesses are not open. Prior to the FWA, it was possible to negotiate with the employees as to the format of their hours, and many preferred to work on the weekends at a premium that was lower than 2x for Sunday, or to come in for less than the minimum 3 hrs.