unions and labor

[*mrgrizz*]

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/joe-mcdonald-fined-30000-over-bullying-cfmeu-hit-w...

why was he allowed to rejoin after being expelled in 2007?

[silverfaun]

Unions are a defunct  idea. Past their time and only good for  getting money off workers for the labor party. Their membership has dwindled and they no longer represent the majority of workers.

[ca04]

I have been in the workforce for 60 odd years and have watched the unions destroy good working relationships between workers and their bosses.

In some industries they have been needed but they get to a point when they, like hitler, will not be contradicted.

During the shearers strike in the 1950s in Qld union members were beaten up after union meetings simply for not agreeing on the use of violence like burning the graziers homes.

If Labor is to return to a credible position as a political party they have to seperate the party from the unions.

[monman12]

"I think unions should be compulsory and those who refuse to belong shouldn't be permitted to accept the benefits....such as the 8 hour day and weekends we enjoy...and pay rises."

JMK , I wonder if the Toyota workers would agree with you after their union obtained a court injunction preventing the company from asking THEM directly as to possible changes in their workplace agreement, all in an attempt to keep the company competitive and their jobs open.

The union won, the workers lost!

nɥºɾ

[lakeland27]

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@ca04 wrote:

I have been in the workforce for 60 odd years and have watched the unions destroy good working relationships between workers and their bosses.

In some industries they have been needed but they get to a point when they, like hitler, will not be contradicted.

During the shearers strike in the 1950s in Qld union members were beaten up after union meetings simply for not agreeing on the use of violence like burning the graziers homes.

If Labor is to return to a credible position as a political party they have to seperate the party from the unions.

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 my observations are quite the opposite. the shearers strike from earlier in the 20th C was fought with violence by strike breakers who murdered shearers. bob katters grandfather donated 100 thousand pounds to support starving families, something bob is extremely proud of.. he supports unions and says arbitration is one of the things that made this country worth living in.

[nevynreally]

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@just_me_karen wrote:
You can thank the union movement for safety gear at work and for safe work practices.

Or would you rather we didn't have these things?

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You forgot about the standard "have to have pie warmers on the construction site or we strike"

And I agree with mrgrizz, unions never seem to do anything for those who need it. Unless they need to make a political point.

[lakeland27]

its convenient to forget what came before. . what do they do for me ? almost everyone here is too young to remember what they did .

and maybe too easily convinced it counts for nothing. does anyone here have any practical experience in construction at all ? the workers themselves are not shy, does anyone think for a minute a soft handed shoppies official from the right could organise that lot ?

these workplaces are tough, its the nature of the work.. officials are often tough as  is the foreman and the bikers the hire firm lumbered the company with.  i'd love to see canvas back go in and make those guys behave

[punch*drunk]

You forgot about the standard "have to have pie warmers on the construction site or we strike

One of the jobs my dad was on they demanded cream puffs for morning tea, along with various other demands, or they would strike.

[freakiness]

All these silly demands are from another time, decades ago.

Times have changed and members of unins these days don't tolerate trivial nonsense like cream puff demands.  

In the news you don't hear about the good they do. They only make the news when there is trouble of some sort.  It's not often reported when they help members or the families of members.  

[punch*drunk]

What they didnt realise back then is that stupid, petty behaviour like that would turn a whole generation of people against them and its coming back to bite them on the bum. Sure, they've achieved some great things, but they've done a hell of a lot of bad too and people dont forget the bad.

[punch*drunk]

And not all the stories are decades old either, using bikies for stand over men is a relatively new thing and I know someone who was harrassed by one on behalf of a union just last year.