Spent some of this afternoon at a rally in Geelong (along with about a quarter of a million others Aus-wide) protesting against the obnoxious IR reforms that the Liberal (read opposite of ‘Liberal’ – conservative) party are pushing through with their majority in both houses. Hopefully this might work out well in the end as it could galvanise Australian workers behind unions a bit more.
For the last howevermany years Enterprise Bargaining Agreements have meant that Unions have fought hard and collectively for decent working conditions which have then applied across the sector. A whole lot of people who either haven’t been involved with or have actively *whinged* about the Unions have benefited a great deal from this… and now they’re gonna realise just how much they gained from the system and how much they’re about to lose.
So y’never know… silver lining perhaps?
James, let us know how you go finding that silver lining!
Perhaps we should think about painting our own?!
The weather here in Canberra is divine!
Cheers, Marg :o)
I reckon that spraying it on the side of some nasty liberals house might be a better idea! Feels (as it always does) more glum a few days post event.
Glad it’s nice in Canberra… y’ won’t be saying that come July… Have you ever been snowed on? ;)
How could you be against these IR reforms??
Not hard… worker vs. boss equals unequal relationship *workers* vs. boss equals more balanced relationship.
Unionism is a very very important thing, it’s easy to forget when you;re in a privileged position or just running with free-wheeling IT stuff, but if you;re in a factory, on a building site or working in a large organisation (that, let’s face it, will cope much easier with you going than you will with having to leave) then your bargaining position SUCKS.
Add to that the fact that if you’re in a company that employs less than 100 workers they can fire you just because they don’t like the look of you one day… and it ‘aint good.
And I could go on….
I’m not saying that reform isn’t necessary… just that these reforms are awful free marketering scummy ones that are going to make a lot of peopl regret they put the libs in the senate.
This “workers vs boss” mentality is very 1970s isn’t it?
Unions are no longer relavent in this day and age.
I fully support these reforms.
I work for a large organisation (5000 ppl) and think these are great.
People I know that work in factories supporting this too.
These reforms give power back to the employer – which is great for small busniess’s too!
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie OI! OI! OI!!
:-)
Now I know that you’re being sarky!