Belly,
The unions or their bosses have been responsible for every industrial collapse in Australia over the past 20 years.
The worker should be able to work for whatever he can negotiate or have negotiated for him by competent labor managers not industrial onion thugs.

Chris Gaff just not true or even close.
Surely this thread shows my unhappy stance on the bad unions.
I am completely baffled by Shortens stand, ignoring my stated truth, voters have had enough.
Until the very real criminals doing great harm to workers, while working for unions go?
No defense yes Wran and Askin committed crimes against us all.
But unless unions confront their filth the movement dies.
Folk with your view do not know an honesty exists in the movement along side the true filth.
And no one should be surprised.
Sponsored by union solidarity all the public see is defense of the filth.

Why would they think any better.

Belly, some people have short memories. Remember back in 2000 when that political heavy Little Johnny Howard, bailed out his brother Stanley at National Textiles with taxpayers money, acted so Stan the Man wouldn't end up in the slammer!

Belly,
Wran and Askin were criminals. Askin belonged to the "East Coast Mafia" of Bolte, Askin and Peterson (Bjelke). They had a secret police force called the "SOD" squad made up of very 'willing' moronic prison guards and union thugs that carried out their political policing operations 'above the law'
I worked under many corrupt commissioners and premiers.
I once arrested Wran's daughter in possession of a kilo of pure Indonesian Hashish and by morning the charges and the evidence had disappeared.
Corruption is endemic and hopefully the RC will root some of it out.

chrisgaff I fully believe you knew most of it.
But I need to defend my views expressed here, from some who say I am pretending unions are clean? baffling that!
And from party stalwarts who think the Ostrich, burying our head in the sand is a policy.

Labor and the Unions are my life, it hurts to see idiots pretending both are not in need of a facelift.
The public has every right to think we are dirty if we defend those who are.
Hope Thomson gets 5 years but know he will not.

Lets read Bills recent form, his faction took Rudd out of office, put Gillard in.
Then snubbed its nose at public opinion, a full time hobby of Shortens, and had the biggest silent union campaign in my life.
Selling Shorten as leader, he once was that is he now?
Albo won our vote and has been pushed in to a cupboard, the right wants only its finger prints on the party.
Shorten fueled every e mail I got from true trade unionist men and women.
Asking why did he water down the truth.
They then most, said has he got some thing to hide?

We must consider the years of unions being dragged down by filth a by product of Labors contempt for reform and accountability.
The public already thinks like that and without a leader committed to us, not his faction always will.
I note the recent betrayal of the SA party by the right has put that state in Liberal hands.
Wake up party! it is our job to win voters not chase them away

Hi Belly,

If the Labor party is ever to take office again, it has to remember that it has to govern on behalf of all Australians, or at least most of them. Otherwise it can kiss it all goodbye.

Fewer than 20 % of workers are in unions these days, and I wouldn't mind betting that a huge proportion of those are professionals and public servants, teachers, nurses, social workers, local government professionals.

So there are a hell of a lot of people out there, workers, subbies, part-timers, fruit-pickers, people looking for work, single mothers, pensioners, etc., etc., who should be the 'natural' constituencies of the Labor Party. Do they get votes at annual conferences ? But they're there, and who will they vote for if Labor doesn't answer their aspirations ?

Australia's is a very diverse society, in terms of class, ethnicity, gender, location and skill/education. Unless the Labor Party can think beyond unionised labor, it's stuffed.

Cheers,

Joe