Easier Said than Done

It's worth mentioning the environmental advantages of buying local too - save on all those transport emissions!

 

OMG that post made me laugh so hard!

Oh yes, of course a collective group of people working with a common goal to improve their working conditions are corrupt criminal gangs. What nonsense.

And for those who assume that I have not worked in an industry with a union well sorry but you're wrong. I worked for 22 years (I started as a toddler ) in an industry with militant unions that went out on strike at the drop of a hat. It used to drive me crazy. But never once did I feel the unions were doing anything but trying to get the best possible deal for the people that they represent. That experience taught me that if you treat employees right they won't feel the need to join a union. Trust is a fundamental part of the employment relationship.

There are corrupt union officials in the same way there are corrupt people in business. Making blanket statements like the one above is just inflammatory and a massive generalization.

 

How long ago was that though?

 

You may want to start here, you might learn something: Final Report

Especially this part

9. These aberrations cannot be regarded as isolated. They are not the work of a few rogue unions, or a few rogue officials. The misconduct exhibits great variety. It is widespread. It is deep-seated.​

 

Qantas mainline is not lower quality, some of its fleet might be older and the entertainment systems sometimes dated but their safety record is second to none in the industry.

 

I left that organisation 3 years ago. So we aren't talking a long time. There's been no significant shift in union activity in the last 3 years.

I am familiar with that document. It's important to understand the complete document, and not just extract one part that supports your point.

I refer you to Volume 1, Subject A, Page 18, Point 3
"At the outset it may induce a sense of realism to consider a few examples from the activities of officials in six unions."

Yes. Six unions. Six. Out of seventy nine unions or branches of unions in Australia. I would suggest that these six unions combined likely comprise of the greatest number of members, however clearly the smaller unions are not represented or identified here.

Then on page 11, point 7
"Adverse recommendations have been made about numerous executives from large commercial organisations"

Yes, executives of commercial organisations are not always the angels they may appear to be either.

Unions have a purpose, they allow employees to have a collective voice. They assist employees to negotiate better wages, better conditions, consistency and fairness. They are a very valuable part of Australia's past and I hope to continue to see them in Australia's future.

 

Nothing more to add really. You admitted the truth already (in bold). Yes adverse recommendations because they were complicit in you guessed it: union corruption.

Unions have no purpose or place in a 21st century market. They are dying and the sooner they are dead the better.

 

There is a term in economics called comparative advantage...we should stick to what we are good at and have a competitive advantage.

Forget about manufacturing...we are too small.

As for unions....would love to see them go out of business...at the same time I would like to see tough jail sentences for executives who price gouge or do dodgy things.

 

I always buy local where I can. I refuse to buy any seafood from Asia; it has to be local or I don't get it.

 

@THX we can agree to disagree. I think if we tarred every business with the corruption brush then there would be no business at all. This applies to unionism as well. There are people motivated by greed in unions, in the same way there are people motivated by greed in business. I would say if there was a Royal Commission into corruption in business you may see lots of heads rolling.

You are seeing it as very black and white, whereas I'm seeing a lot more grey. Despite having dealt with plenty of union nonsense in the past, I still see the value in them. I certainly don't want to see Australia go the way of the US where employees have no voice at all (ironically, unless they're in a union) and wages are driven downwards to create a large group of working poor. This is of course a bigger issue than just a few posts in a property forum

Anyway, appreciate you sharing your views (even if I don't agree with them).

 

That makes no sense at all.

What are unions fighting for today? more money, that's it. Almost all the benefits the average worker has is already enshrined in law. The only thing unions have to fight for is more members to collect money from and demanding more money from companies in bribes or higher unsustainable wages.

What value? And as for comparisons to the U.S., well Australia is the fourth most expensive country to live in the G20. Australia the most expensive country in the G20 a great deal of that thanks to our militant unions which pushed wages to astronomical levels, destroyed our productivity and killed almost all our manufacturing.

 

We do online shopping and have done so for the last decade. They don't display the country of origin/manufacturer so we don't get a choice.

 

Glad they are doing something about gst on online overseas purchases too. hard for Australian small businesses to compete when they are slugged 10% more to start with.

I've had this argument many times and it always comes back with how much it will cost to collect the tax... But I don't care. I want our businesses to be on an equal playing field.

 

Your business will never be on an equal footing internationally so from a consumer pov why should the government inflict pain on us to try to legislate that you are (on equal footing)?

 

But if I'm selling to consumers in Australia, I should have to pay the same gst as an Australian retailer.

Or abolish it for the Australian retailer too.

 

But the Australian consumer is not shopping only in Australia, forcing the GST on imports is not much different to tariffs and they never work out well in the long run. It sucks, I know, while my business is not in selling goods (anymore) I understand perfectly how hard small business has it.

 

A simple way is just buy fresh if you can,Brisbane has a main supply chain market that's open too the public at Rocklea,opens thurs-friday for $1.00 entry to cover if you fall over,everything after 10 in the morning most boxes are 5-15 bucks half price,because the new stock comes in over the weekend..

 

The Australian consumer can shop where they like... But if they want to bring the goods into Australia gst should be payable.

They are dropping the threshold from $1000 to $400. Perhaps this is the sweet spot where under that the cost to collect is excessive.

 

So you want a tariff that costs the taxpayers money basically. The idea of adding a tax that costs more than it raises is just about the stupidest thing I've heard.