Tomorrow is the national day of protest against the unfair WorkChoices laws. Local rallies around the country will be linked up by a national telecast. Jimmy Barnes will headline the festivities at the MCG, and hundreds of thousands of workers are expected to join in around the country. Even staff from the Office of the [...]
In just the latest example of WorkChoices’ impact on wages, the head of the so-called “Fair” Pay Commission boasted that he had structured the body’s first pay determination so as to quietly cut wages for most of the workers affected by it. At an employer lunch in Melbourne today, Ian Harper bragged: This decision puts [...]
Kevin Andrews at a doorstop interview on 1 June 2006: First of all the concept of operational reasons is not something which is new in WorkChoices. This is something … which is a part of the workplace relations law in Australia for some … period of time. So this idea of operation reasons is not [...]
Spot the odd one out? Yes, it’s the one after WorkChoices was introduced. According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians suffered a wage cut when inflation is taken into account. As I pointed out last week, market economists attribute the cuts to “industrial relations reforms … reducing the bargaining power [...]
Although this blog is usually quite strictly focussed on Australian issues, I have been asked by the LHMU to mention something that happened in the United States last week, and which is one of LabourStart’s Act NOW! campaigns. As you know, this blog supports the LHMU’s Clean Start for Cleaners campaign. A similar campaign — [...]
If you visit the employment law page of Connor Hunter Law Firm, here’s what you see: The terms of employment are equally important to employer and employee alike. Striking the balance to be fair to both parties can be difficult. We can help employers and employees negotiate a fair and reasonable employment contract. That sounds [...]
The Australian‘s economics correspondent reports the latest ABS wage statistics: Growth in wages remains surprisingly modest, despite widespread shortages of skilled labour and unemployment falling to historic low levels. Average weekly earnings rose at an annual rate of only 2.8 per cent in the year to August, the lowest increase in seven years. … ABN [...]
Every year, the Financial Review does a round-up of executive salaries. It makes interesting reading. On page S2 of the 20-page wraparound, Fiona Buffini questions the disparity between executive salaries and those of the real producers of wealth: At the top 50 [Australian] companies, CEO pay is now 70 times average earnings, compared with the [...]
TWU members in Sydney struck for two hours this morning, due to concerns about threats that were allegedly made to their delegates. The first incident occurred on 19 July: Three drivers at the Westbus depot at Bonnyrigg — all union delegates — and a union official claim the manager told them during a meeting on [...]
When you’re reading the flood of commentary that will follow this morning’s High Court decision, it is important to remember that it was not a ruling on the merits of the legislation. Just because the law is constitutional does not mean it is good or worthwhile. In fact, the High Court majority went out of [...]
Comments