C'mon in, the water's fine
Is it the end of the world?
Published on November 15, 2005 By FishHead In Politics
Geese, all this fuss.

In Australia, the dreaded (not the hair, the fear based scary word) John Howard has got the big scary Industrial Relations Laws coming through. Leftist pinko’s roam the streets in gangs to denounce this is the end of life as we know it, the coming of the evil one and the end of the world in general. They haven’t been seen in numbers this big since the last time they mooted that the end of the world was nigh.

To be fair, things will change. But as normal, I’m predicting it won’t be the end of the world. And as normal, what will happen, will probably be somewhere in the middle of what the government says will happen, and what the unions will say what will happen. The middle ground is usually correct because both sides are just trying to cover their asses. In this case I’d be saying the union has the most to lose in this case so has the higher likelihood of lying more.

And that’s why, if I had to pick between slightly left or right of the middle ground in this issue I’d pick the right. The unions are screaming like an animal dieing, and there’s genuine hate there as well. I went to a union meeting at work the other day, largely as it was paid and I wanted a break from work. Either way after talking to us about only briefly relevant things the union rep spent 15 minutes that the company was paying for ranting about the end of the world. After about 10 minutes of no one talking except him and my work colleagues hanging off his every word I interrupted to explain my theory and then ask a few questions.

Let’s just say he didn’t take it very well. As is usual of people like himself he didn’t take objections very well. After I asked a few questions that were quite logical (at the time I hadn’t read up on the new laws so all I did was read between the lines and give a brief explanation of my middle ground theory) he got quite irate and started pulling excuses out of his “How to scare the minions into believing you” handbook.

It didn’t work for him. After he left I had workmates coming up to ask me what I meant and to tell me that they thought this guy was a tosser for not taking my points on.

Moral of it all, the world will not end and will probably get better even. I’m not certain but based on the fact that the last few times the lefties whined everything worked out fine so I’ll stick to that formula.

Comments
on Nov 15, 2005
I am sadly ignorant of this issue unfortunately but I gave you an Insightful for calling someone a "tosser".
on Nov 16, 2005
No, it's not the end of the world because you are safe with your union job. I have no use for a unionists who speaks out the right corner of his mouth.
on Nov 16, 2005
'I went to a union meeting at work the other day, largely as it was paid and I wanted a break from work.'

Go ahead and celebrate John Howard undermining the rights of workers if you must. The irony here is that you wouldn't have even had the opportunity to bunk off work like this in the first place had there not been a history of unions fighting for workers' rights.

'Geese, all this fuss.'

What have geese got to do with it?
on Nov 16, 2005
What have geese got to do with it?
Gees, you think i would've realised that

The irony here is that you wouldn't have even had the opportunity to bunk off work like this in the first place had there not been a history of unions fighting for workers' rights.
Yeah i know there is, but it doesn't bother me. I've never agreed with the idea that an employer has to pay for their workers to meet with unions, it should be done in employees own time. But, hey, it's there atm and i'll take the half hour break given to me.

No, it's not the end of the world because you are safe with your union job.
The whole point the unions are trying to put forward is that no one is safe because unions will be going bye bye.

I gave you an Insightful for calling someone a "tosser".
I like you

on Nov 16, 2005
'But, hey, it's there atm and i'll take the half hour break given to me.'

Met a lot like you in my time. Whinge about paying union fees, but never refuse a union-negotiated improvement in pay or conditions. It's one of the many things that make me proud to be a union member - my union supports ALL its members, even those hypocrites who attack it on the one hand while taking anything and everything it has to offer (thanks to the efforts of its active membership) with the other.
on Nov 16, 2005
As a minor point, union membership is not compulsory. The company has to pay for the meeting even if your not a member, as was the case with me for a while.
on Nov 26, 2005
The world will not end. Personally I do hate a lot of things about Unions. One being that many are led by aggressive types who don't accept debate within their ranks. Sometimes they get in the way, or stick p for employees who don't deserve it.

But at the end of the day I prefer the curent system to the proposed one. I haven't read the legislation ,nor do I think it would help. I have listened to an address by an industrial law academic to the national press club and I have concerns about it.

I think certain minimum standards should be guaranteed. I don't think we should leave scope for people to be pressured out of annual or sick leave. I think the way the minimum wage is currently set is fairly appropriate.

I think that Greensfields agreements are a farce.

I think that if a group of employees want to be dealt with collectively, the employer should be obliged to deal with them collectively (choice), just as is the case in the USA, Britain, Japan etc.

And finally I think there is potential for a lot of people who deserve/need welfare (eg disability pensioners) to be kicked off. The probles this will cause is that as prices rise to meet the opportunities of the rich, many of our essentials are getting out of reach for the poorer.

Pay and conditions may weel improve in certain industries where there is a shortage of workers. But in industries like hospitality, where conditions are already crap, and there is a surplus of workers, conditions will worsen and workers will be forced to rely on tipping. That places unnecessary pressure on those people.

Finally I think it will encourage people to strive for the extra dollar instead of spending time with their family. Sometimes they will feel pressured to, other times they will just be greedy. Either way, it's nt something that I think should be encouraged. Australians work too long as it is and are losing the ability to connect with each other. We shouldn't go further down this road.

Thos are my concerns. Many workers will not feel the effects of these reforms. A fair number will be advantaged by them. Some people who need to get into part-time work to help them off wlefare will even benefit. But overall, I don't think the benefits are anywhere close to outweighing the disadvantages.
on Nov 26, 2005
BTW, the Christian Right (Family First) aren't too happy about the changes eiter last I checked.
on Nov 26, 2005
yeah, i'm in a union. ufcw. i give money to their political committee as well.
on Nov 30, 2005
The whole point the unions are trying to put forward is that no one is safe because unions will be going bye bye.
Thanks to the likes of your defeatism.