Well I never thought I would see the day that a labor leader, a former union heavy weight at that, would call for his failing party to cut the cord.

Gee, things must be crook!

The truth is that the unions are so much on the nose that even the likes of Bill Shorten can see just how damaging these clowns are.

As for reforming his party, the best advice I can give is to throw out the faceless men and listen to his people, not his minders, as they too are poison.

Wasn't Bill Shorten Sr a Painter and Docker back in the days of the Kane Brothers, Billy Longley and all?
The Unions have always been full of crooks and gangsters, Labor has always been full of Unionists, 2+2=4.

And another thing, these days there are very few working class people involved in the Unions, it's all middle class, middle management types, I actually had dinner the other week with a guy I've known for 20 years who's just become a Union organiser, at one point he was trying to explain to me how these middle class, university educated, mostly female "unionists" are the new Proletariat..I had to laugh, and he got a little bit cross with me.

Jay, the problem is, unions are on the nose and without compulsory unionism in many workplaces, they woukd be reduced to little more than a local bowls club.

You see when a vote is taken, say 200 employees and, just 101 decide to strike, the other 99 also have to go without pay, all while the unionists are getting paid, sometimes receiving penalties for increased stress.

The days of the union are numbered, which is a shame really, because they DID do a good job in gaining decent rewards for members and non members alike, but, some got greedy and just couldn't resist the temptation of millions in the kitty.

They saw themselves as above the law.

Dear rehctub,

Corruption exists in all sorts of organisations in
this country, from sports clubs, charities, political
parties, to the big-end of town. Unions on the whole
do the job they're supposed to do - represent their
members. There are many people who are members of a
union who have never been put in a position where they've
had to go out on strike. Yes, people do get frustrated
when the unions do their job badly, however, I think that
most people do support without reservation the right of
all working people to join together so as to preserve and
protect their livelihoods. As the voters reactions to
WorkChoices in this country proved.

Of course, unions need to be more sensitive to the realities
of modern economic conditions. Sectarian attitudes and
greed serve the cause of labour badly. The only way in which
the country can work properly is for management and labour to
co-operate with one another and not condemn one another.

However, the sad truth is that condemnation is the only
language that some people appear to understand.

Foxy.....Of course, unions need to be more sensitive to the realities
of modern economic conditions. Sectarian attitudes and
greed serve the cause of labour badly. The only way in which
the country can work properly is for management and labour to
co-operate with one another and not condemn one another.

Yes well, the sad reality is that two consenting grown adults can't come to an agreement that suits them, without big brother sticking their two bobs worth in.

As for unions being more sensible to the times, times have changed so the costs of labor must be allowed to change with this times, as the rule that wages can only go up is where the problem lies.

Not for long though, as companies have found their own remedy, it's called 'leaving'.

What a pity!