the troubadour

A recipe for disaster with the arrangement to share power between Mugabe and Nkomo. It was of course the desire to eradicate the problem poste haste, by the Brits that was bound to decimate the country and longer term impact further South.

the troubadour

Thatcher had a lot of European leaders not in favour of her style of lectoring to them on this that and the other.
Not likely to influence others with her style,especially on matters South African. Although to be fair the writing was on the wall at some point in the eighties.....

sonlymewalter

No they don't. Unions create strong resentment

Workers councils are what create balance

It's lack of people management skills that's the problem not flitting or working in different areas.

Excellent managers can work in any business and any industry if they know how to get the best out of people by managing them properly mate

ozzieeagle

Here's what happens when you don't have unions.... no resentment here because the slaves are Obedient. Do you know anyone personally that works in retail ?

http://franklludwig.com/lidl.html

Surely the most die hard anti unionist would have even more objections to what happens/happend at Lidl and their Ilk. I think anyone working there would have been happy to cause some "resentment".

It's because of Aussie Unions, that workers here get 13 weeks long service leave and 17.5 pct leave loading..... where's the resentment in that ?

Amazulu

And then you have what these moronic Aussie unions are trying to do to Qantas. Unions have a place, but not to have the power that they do in Australia

sonlymewalter

The Lidl article was writen by a disgruntled employee. Even the best of companies can drag up a few of those emotional tirades mate

Union and business relationships are always based on "them and us" whereas workers councils provide a more balanced approach.

There should always be a middle group to stop a one sided relationship like what happened with Lidl but having a union is defo not the answer

bcworld

I'd rather they got me 5 weeks leave a year I know I'll be able to take than some once in a lifetime longer break I'll probably never be able to take advantage of!

ozzieeagle

Having nothing is definitely not the answer.... How many wokers councils are there..?. never heard of them in Aus. In fact I've barely heard of them before this thread. Everytime I've heard of employees being involved with Management descisions in Manufacturing or Production, they become tainted. Although I will say employees in office type enviornments that are involved with management in workplace direction is usually a good outcome. There is a distinct difference in attitudes between white collar and blue collar management/employee relations.

90 pct of the time plus, unions can resolve issues with management, without confrontation.

sonlymewalter

Long service leave and leave loading is becoming less sustainable for most companies. Its a bit like buying a lifetime guarantee - not much cop if the company goes bust

Aus is slowly waking up to the fact it needs to increase productivity, lower costs and fall in line with the rest of the western world. Jeez everyone's still smarting over paying maternity leave yet we boast paying 13 weeks long service leave

Unions are all about what's best for workers.

Companies are all about what's best for them.

Workers councils are all about what's best for the customers

ozzieeagle

I'd say the majority, take it as pay, when they leave an employer.

I know more people in the workforce that have accumulated long service than dont... there again I guess thats the people I mix with.

You've at least got the 17.5 pct... which equates to more than an extra weeks pay.

sonlymewalter

Really good companies in Europe have replaced unions with workers councils and it works far better than unions ever did.

It holds business to account in terms of management training. Makes managers manage far smarter mate

ozzieeagle

Overseen by the Unions by the looks of things here.... if the German model is the classic example then no objection from me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_council

sonlymewalter

they really do work too mate - from everyone's standpoint

bcworld

I think you need 7+ years service to do that...most people I know never clock that up!

sonlymewalter

exactly and anyone on contract or casual don't even get it