A Royal Commission into Union corruption? Why?

[i-need-a-martini]

Is this really necessary given that it is a criminal matter?

Like how much does a Royal Commission cost? $400million? $600million?

And why is it that the Liberal Party are forever making the excuse that the 'public' have concerns and this is the reason they have to do something? ("Senator Brandis confirmed...it would be "irresponsible for the government not to respond in an appropriate way" to public concerns."). What concerns? I think the public is more concerned about the secrecy regarding the governments handling of the asylum seekers yet they don't think THOSE public concerns are important.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/royal-commission-into-union-corruption-confirm...

[poddster]

I wouldnt call 18% a united front, would you ?

[*crikey*mate*]

What exactly does a Union do?

Apart from books, I've only had cause to need them twice in my life, and I recall another time for my father.

1) My father - owned a business.

Payed above award wage plus bonuses

Provided free lunch, morning and afternnon teas and breakfast including the food and time to have it.

Gave free meat to each butcher every week as well.

The books were set up that they finished at 5pm, so if they finished earlier, they still got that pay.

so looked after his employees.

One week, one butcher finished at 5:15 instead of 5.

The pay lady missed this on his pay sheet, so he was short payed for that week by 15 minutes.

The employee, did not go to my father, went straight to his union, who went through the books of the entire company and interviewed all staff etc - no other issues.

They made life crazy for my father over 15 minutes pay, which had he have known, he would have just given it to him.

But that was ok, when the young lad returned to work, dad payed him for his 15 minutes - but as he wanted to play by the rules, my dad accommodated him -vto the letter.

He got exactly 8 hours work a day x 5 days a week and one unpaid hour of lunch a day, exactly as the award said. - no overtime, no work on public holidays, no extra breaks or food etc.no weekly free meat for the family. No use of the company vehicles etc all sorts of stuff.

He got his award, exactly as he wanted it.

The unions really helped him out, eh?

..........................................................

2) when I was cooking, one job, paid for 40 hours a week, we worked 80ish - our day off a week was from 2pm Sunday until 2 pm monday.

that was the worst, but there were others, in small and big employers.

Where was the union then?

3) 22 years ago, my husband hurt his back at work resulting in an operation. Went on Worker's Comp. Company admitted fault. After 6 months started back at 1 hour a day and worked up to 38 hours a week - until work cover released him.

The day work cover released him, his employer (a big company) told him that they had given his job away to someone else, however since he had been there for 10 years, they would give him another job as a barman at $18,000 a year, he had been on $80,000 a year at the time of the accident and had just been given a promotion the morning of the accident, but hadn't signed the papers.

He went to his union for help - all he wanted was his job back - they told him to see a lawyer. They wouldn't help him.

.........................................

so really, can't say as I've seen anything good from having a union involved in anything to be honest.

[freakiness]

Were you a member of the union?

Did you ask for their support in relation to the 80 hour weeks with all those hours unpaid?

Was your husband a member of the union?

[givemeaspell]

---

@crikey*mate wrote:

What exactly does a Union do?

Apart from books, I've only had cause to need them twice in my life, and I recall another time for my father.

1) My father - owned a business.

Payed above award wage plus bonuses

Provided free lunch, morning and afternnon teas and breakfast including the food and time to have it.

Gave free meat to each butcher every week as well.

The books were set up that they finished at 5pm, so if they finished earlier, they still got that pay.

so looked after his employees.

One week, one butcher finished at 5:15 instead of 5.

The pay lady missed this on his pay sheet, so he was short payed for that week by 15 minutes.

The employee, did not go to my father, went straight to his union, who went through the books of the entire company and interviewed all staff etc - no other issues.

They made life crazy for my father over 15 minutes pay, which had he have known, he would have just given it to him.

But that was ok, when the young lad returned to work, dad payed him for his 15 minutes - but as he wanted to play by the rules, my dad accommodated him -vto the letter.

He got exactly 8 hours work a day x 5 days a week and one unpaid hour of lunch a day, exactly as the award said. - no overtime, no work on public holidays, no extra breaks or food etc.no weekly free meat for the family. No use of the company vehicles etc all sorts of stuff.

He got his award, exactly as he wanted it.

The unions really helped him out, eh?

..........................................................

2) when I was cooking, one job, paid for 40 hours a week, we worked 80ish - our day off a week was from 2pm Sunday until 2 pm monday.

that was the worst, but there were others, in small and big employers.

Where was the union then?

3) 22 years ago, my husband hurt his back at work resulting in an operation. Went on Worker's Comp. Company admitted fault. After 6 months started back at 1 hour a day and worked up to 38 hours a week - until work cover released him.

The day work cover released him, his employer (a big company) told him that they had given his job away to someone else, however since he had been there for 10 years, they would give him another job as a barman at $18,000 a year, he had been on $80,000 a year at the time of the accident and had just been given a promotion the morning of the accident, but hadn't signed the papers.

He went to his union for help - all he wanted was his job back - they told him to see a lawyer. They wouldn't help him.

.........................................

so really, can't say as I've seen anything good from having a union involved in anything to be honest.

---

that's a shame to hear that Crikey.  His union couldn't have been very strong?  A union is only as strong as its members.

A family member worked on the wharf, the Liberal govt under Howard and Reith sacked the whole work force, brought guard dogs in and locked them out.   thank god for the union, and unions around the world who stood by them and supported them.  Your husband was wrongly treated, and if he had of been in a decent union, they would never have got away with that treatment.

[*crikey*mate*]

My father estimated that by sticking exactly to the award, that butcher was down about $200 a week - now that was a LOT of money back then (mid 80's).

But by the time he lost all his overtime, weekends, public holidays, and then had to start supplying his own breakfast, lunch, drinks etc and weekly meat, etc oh, and uniforms and whatever else everyone else got, dad reckoned it would have been that much.

and all because the unions went nuts over 15 minutes pay, when my father wasn't even in the country.

They didn't even come to him first and say "oi! you owe this bloke 15 minutes pay, just went in like a bull at a gate.

They didn't take into consideration all the other benefits the bloke was getting, and say "whoops, you made a mistake, fix it up, will ya and don't do it again" nope - full boar investigation and cost their "member" $200 a week.

and the funny thing was, the bloke never explained why he was at work 15 minutes late that day, when most others had clocked out before 5pm. Only the manager and wash up boys were left - and this bloke.

Gotta love a union, eh?

[freakiness]

Are your opinion of unions based on your recollections as a child?

[*crikey*mate*]

---

@freakiness wrote:

Were you a member of the union?

Did you ask for their support in relation to the 80 hour weeks with all those hours unpaid?

Was your husband a member of the union?

---

I was, but I didn't. However, it is industry wide, it was no secret. Didn't bother me, I didn't want intervention - I liked my job.

Yes, for my husband, they just took the $13 a week out of his pay cheque.and continued to do so until he left that company 3 years later.

[*crikey*mate*]

---

@freakiness wrote:

Are your opinion of unions based on your recollections as a child?

---

No, i told you one incident as a child

2 as an adult and was quite clear that apart from that, my knowledge was only book knowledge gained from my Bus Management degree.

[*crikey*mate*]

---

@givemeaspell wrote:

---

@crikey*mate wrote:

What exactly does a Union do?

Apart from books, I've only had cause to need them twice in my life, and I recall another time for my father.

1) My father - owned a business.

Payed above award wage plus bonuses

Provided free lunch, morning and afternnon teas and breakfast including the food and time to have it.

Gave free meat to each butcher every week as well.

The books were set up that they finished at 5pm, so if they finished earlier, they still got that pay.

so looked after his employees.

One week, one butcher finished at 5:15 instead of 5.

The pay lady missed this on his pay sheet, so he was short payed for that week by 15 minutes.

The employee, did not go to my father, went straight to his union, who went through the books of the entire company and interviewed all staff etc - no other issues.

They made life crazy for my father over 15 minutes pay, which had he have known, he would have just given it to him.

But that was ok, when the young lad returned to work, dad payed him for his 15 minutes - but as he wanted to play by the rules, my dad accommodated him -vto the letter.

He got exactly 8 hours work a day x 5 days a week and one unpaid hour of lunch a day, exactly as the award said. - no overtime, no work on public holidays, no extra breaks or food etc.no weekly free meat for the family. No use of the company vehicles etc all sorts of stuff.

He got his award, exactly as he wanted it.

The unions really helped him out, eh?

..........................................................

2) when I was cooking, one job, paid for 40 hours a week, we worked 80ish - our day off a week was from 2pm Sunday until 2 pm monday.

that was the worst, but there were others, in small and big employers.

Where was the union then?

3) 22 years ago, my husband hurt his back at work resulting in an operation. Went on Worker's Comp. Company admitted fault. After 6 months started back at 1 hour a day and worked up to 38 hours a week - until work cover released him.

The day work cover released him, his employer (a big company) told him that they had given his job away to someone else, however since he had been there for 10 years, they would give him another job as a barman at $18,000 a year, he had been on $80,000 a year at the time of the accident and had just been given a promotion the morning of the accident, but hadn't signed the papers.

He went to his union for help - all he wanted was his job back - they told him to see a lawyer. They wouldn't help him.

.........................................

so really, can't say as I've seen anything good from having a union involved in anything to be honest.

---

that's a shame to hear that Crikey.  His union couldn't have been very strong?  A union is only as strong as its members.

A family member worked on the wharf, the Liberal govt under Howard and Reith sacked the whole work force, brought guard dogs in and locked them out.   thank god for the union, and unions around the world who stood by them and supported them.  Your husband was wrongly treated, and if he had of been in a decent union, they would never have got away with that treatment.

---

I don't even know the name of it now?

He was in Hospitality in Qld, if that helps? This was 1993.

It's good that your family member got looked after,

[punch*drunk]

My experience of unions....I've witnessed a union rep ask for and receive a bribe, $500 I think it was, that was in about 1990.

I've seen a list of union demands that including pathetic things like "cream puffs for morning tea" I used to think they had an employee sitting around just making up stupid reasons to strike. That job nearly gave my dad a nervous breakdown. They stopped work if he so much as looked at his watch when the workers strolled in 15 minutes late, or if he touched a tool to move it out of his way. They stopped if it was too wet, too hot, too cold...it was ridiculous! That was 1987.

Lucky they didnt know dad and a couple of others used to go in on weekends and fix up their mistakes, the job would probably never have been finished otherwise.

I also know somebody who quite recently was harrassed by a bikie on behalf of a union.

Then there's the story my husband tells about most of workers at the factory he worked for going on strike for several weeks to get approx 20c payrise. Hubby and a few others kept working and were therefore paid, I cant remember if they worked out it was going to take months or years of thet extra 20c an hour to make up for the several weeks without pay. lol, that would have been around the same era as my first 2 stories up there, must have been the glory days for the unions back then.