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Tuesday March 16, 2010

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Wages Breakout

Posted by: Michael Smith | 1 July, 2009 - 12:51 PM
amwu

The Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union has held off its pay claims until now - 1 July, the start of the new Rudd Government’s Fair Work Act.

The AMWU is after at least a 4% rise for all its members and 6% for workers in 'businesses that can afford it.'

What about the businesses that can’t afford 4%?

The new system is designed to encourage collective bargaining. And unions will have the right of entry to workplaces to inspect the salary records of employees.

If the AMWU is successful in its move, there’s no doubt other unions will follow. And that will result in rises way beyond inflation - without any gains in productivity.

It’s very important that we understand what this is all about. Increased pay that follows increased output from the company is good. Increased pay that doesn’t come from increased economic output is bad.

A wages breakout will lead to inflation and misery.

I’ll get some expert analysis this afternoon.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Gayle,
    As the online poll on the AMWU website overwhelmingly indicates, the most important issue for employees at this point in time is job security. A union has a responsibility, as the representative of the employees, to seek the optimum wage outcome without threatening job security. Unions, too, recognise that if a business collapses, the employees lose their jobs. It's a bit of a balancing act.
    However, it does seem that some (not all) employers feel no sense of responsibility for the well being of their employees. They'll contract work out to cheap foreign labour or exploit visa regulations, shutting out Australian workers while maintaining huge profits.
    Gayle, I applaud you for your attitude towards your employees. You appear to treat your workers as assets rather than liabilities. It's a shame that some businesses, particularly some of our larger enterprises, refuse to do the same, no matter what the economic landscape.

    bigfella Wednesday 1 July, 2009 - 8:58 PM

  • Like Julie Gillard I too was born in Wales and migrated here in 1966.
    My father was a union man both in Wales and Australia and while I agree that both employees and employers need a fair go unfortunately I cannot see that current day unions like Politicians can differentiate between the two.
    Having seen Unions take hard stands in Wales that caused considerable grief to both the families of the miners and the miners themselves and having seen these families go without wages for weeks on end I can only hope that all unions today look at both sides.
    The end result of union actions in Wales resulted in the mines being closed because they became unprofitable, parts of Wales still haven't recovered 40 years later, this was due in part to the greed and ignorance or perhaps one sided views of union officials
    As an employer I fully understand the need to be fair to our employees all of mine I regard as friends who are to be appreciated rather than exploited and can only hope that the majority of employers do the same because without people working with us we have no business, however if the unions push us as employers to the extent that we make no profit then there will be no position to offer.
    Like bigfella who's attitude I must admit I rarely agree with, and I can tell you now our business books are run from my home and there will be no way that I will open my home to any union rep that decides that he wants to see those books.

    Gayle Wednesday 1 July, 2009 - 5:28 PM

  • Three questions...
    Where can I find the phrase "businesses that can afford it"? I am having trouble finding this quote attributed to the AMWU. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
    Secondly, is this part of the EB process? EB stands for Enterprise Bargaining. I've always understood that to mean the employer and the employees' representative (the relevant Union) negotiating changes to working conditions and productivity improvements that benefit both employer and employees. Why do you presume that there will be no gains in productivity?
    Thirdly, who is Aaron O'Brien?

    bigfella Wednesday 1 July, 2009 - 2:10 PM

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