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Cacatuoidea
New member
'Twas in the late 90s, IIRC, The World's Greatest Treasurer was at the helm, and it was decided that Australia would have the "Australian National Training Authority", which guaranteed permanent employees the right to upskill at the employer's expense, but casual labour was specifically excluded. Within a fortnight, 50% of the labour force had been fired and rehired as casual, and by the end of the month that had increased to 75%.
So let's not have any nonsense about Liberal policies forcing the adoption of casual labour: it was all the Labor Party, and it was the last time I ever voted Labor.
I don't know who or what you are quoting there (a source by way of a link with your quote is always a good idea) .. but that sounds an awful lot like an opinion over fact to me.
Cacatuoidea
New member
Was quoting myself. I am not going back 25 or so years to round up who said what when. Suffice it to say that -- at least here in the West -- very few were entirely happy with the Keating government. The only good news for me was that in order to make unskilled workers fit for servitude wherever, the brand new Centrelink was sending everybody and his dog to training courses paid for by... wait for it... Your Taxes. I lucked into a "Storeman's Certificate" which gave me a "B" licence and a "Certificate of Competency" (or something like that) for a Forklift. I'd actually got forklift training in Sydney Town back in the 70's, and without any shame at all I was pretty bloody good at it. So I was helping the instructor with that one
Problem with Labor, they have a lot of good ideas, but they don't seem to looksee if Liberal might have already done things in those areas first. FWIW, casual employment worked well for me. One thing about permanent that always grated was the need to look busy all the time when nothing was happening. And for a quite a few smaller businesses, nothing happened lots of times. So I made friends with a couple of labour hire companies, and was rarely out of work at 25% loading.
In that case, I'm calling bullshit on this 'Within a fortnight, 50% of the labour force had been fired and rehired as casual, and by the end of the month that had increased to 75%. '. Unless you are referring to just your workplace and not the country as a whole.
Cacatuoidea
New member
Never heard of these terms outside of "Tales from the USA". I do recollect 7-11 and Caltex servos playing funny buggers with minimum wages etc, and was very impressed by the speed with which State Labor looked the other way. I do recollect the now CMFEU was quite energetic trying put out those bushfires, but found itself quite hobbled as many people suffering the system were not members.
Coles and woolies for one, used to have to call a casual and pay for a minimum of 4 hours once. Now they can call someone in and give them one hours work.
Often it's some kids working after school who are afraid to say no for fear of not being called again. I know off a kid who by the time he paid his bus trip to work and back home at the end of his one hour shift, ended up paying for the privilege of going to work. He wasn't told it would only be one hour until after he got to work, after which the boss decided he didn't need him after all.
Cacatuoidea
New member
I hate to say this, but it looks like Union membership would be a good idea. I know it sounds silly for a school kid, but then a kid with after-school work is going to be, what, 13, 14, 15 years old? Time they were taught the facts of employment. BUT, will the unions take a member that young? I'm generally not a fan of Trade Unions, but when it comes to ripping off kids... And don't forget, union fees are tax-deductible (if the kid is in fact liable for tax).
Of course, one wonders how many of Woollies/Coles staff are themselves unionised? Having said that, it really doesn't matter. If there's only one member, that member must be looked after, and the responsible store taken to court if necessary.
Cacatuoidea
New member
Try since Pig-iron Bob got in in '48 (first PM in the brand spanking new Liberal Party). Actually I think unions were in the firing line long before that, it's called "Class Warfare". D'ya think the Jolly Swagman appeared out of the blue? Not to mention the "Eureka Stockade"? And see if you can figure where Peter Lalor went after the firing ceased? There was a complete dropkick if ever I heard of one.
Talking about Lalor, DON'T get me started on Compulsory Voting.
There's nothing unions can do about it. It's perfectly legal these days. Consecutive liberal party governments have just about stripped unions off all their powers.
Cacatuoidea
New member
Actually there's quite a bit they can do about it. Unfortunately, some of them have extreme difficulty in pulling their opposable digits out of their Jackson Ringpieces. Unions must still be permitted unsupervised entry to any premise where a member works, and even when that is over-ridden they are entitled to file a legal action with Fair Work Australia on behalf of their member. So we come to the relevant Award. But I am continually surprised how so many people choose to whinge and bitch rather than stand up for their rights -- and how many of those are so vocal about their rights
However, when we're talking about minors, I think the parents need to step up to the plate. My daughter did her time at Kentucky Duck after school hours for a couple of years, and there was never a problem with shortening her hours, but this was in the 90s. She even got weekends during the school holidays! If the franchise had screwed with the hours and pointed to the award, I would have had her employment terminated on the spot so they would have to scratch to get a replacement, and there would have been a firm directive to pay up to date.
Not really there's not. The move to allow one hour shifts was approved by fair work Australia. Unions aren't even allowed to strike anymore without approval from fair work. The best they can do whilst the libs are in power is to try to raise awareness of it.
I don't think thats true. I think that these days unions must obtain permission before they can enter a worksite. Maybe @greggerypeccary can clear this up. He's does some work with unions.
greggerypeccary
Active member
The Union official needs to have a Right of Entry Permit (which needs to be renewed every three years), and they usually need to file a right of entry notification 24 hours before they enter the premises.
They can't just walk in unannounced without having a pre-existing mutual agreement with the manager.
cheers. I didn't think they could just walk in but I was unsure of the specifics of it
Exactly. Which is why the libs bought this in
Cacatuoidea
New member
Thank you for snipping the quote. Makes it lots easier to find the thread.
If the one-hour shift is in the award/work agreement, then yes. If not, then somebody is on very shaky ground.