Hutch

Interesting follow-up to that article in the SMH a few weeks ago, about the girl at the juice bar who had her wages nearly halved overnight ...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...861490041.html

kiwichild

This type of situation is frigging disgusting. We will unfortuantely see a hell of a lot more of it happening too. They'll cut wages to a bare minimum but food, rent/mortgages, utilities and other expenses won't go down in cost to match income reductions. Many workers will be forced to work more jobs, longer hours to try and make ends meet. Some will end up living in shitholes.

That girl and her workmates will probably end up sacked as soon as the company can get enough new staff trained up and working on the slave wage they propose to pay.

This is the shame that will be the Australia of the future. Think I best keep my UK passport current incase I really do feel the need to bail!

Sass73

I was discussing the workplace agreement with the OH today and I said it wouldn't surprise me if sometime in the future all the multinationals in Oz suddenly became lots of small companies consisting of different departments - ie finance becomes a limited company, human resources becomes a limited company etc... all with less than 100 employees.
Am I being too cynical?

Ialibu

Not at all. I think it was Corrigan on the wharves about 8 or so years ago who pulled a real dirty stunt. From memory he sold the HR part of his company to a $2 shelf company. They were the ones who hired, employed and paid all the workers. Then he pulled the pin on the lot. They had no recourse as the parent company was no longer that.

Its going to affect, badly, those who don't have specific skillsets or their work can be done overseas. Those who don't fall into the above categories will get by rather well, I reckon. Most young people starting off in the workplace fall into the above areas.

cresta57

I'm an employer I'm in business to make money end of story. If i wanted to give away profits to workers who were not worth the money they earned I'd register as a charity.
Some jobs are not worth a lot of money that's why they're done by unskilled young people. They then undertake training and with more skills earn more money. I've had blokes work for me that work harder at doing nothing than they would doing the job I pay them to do. For example one bloke on a job does 50m2 of tiling a day and his mate on another does 20m2 it's hardly fair to pay them the same wage is it?
It's a simple enough theory but there's always some bleeding heart leftie/communist that wants everyone to earn a good wage and it's the fault of the employer if they don't.
There will be a certain exploitation of the new rules but if it helps companies get rid of dead wood and become more profitable it can only be a bonus.

232Bar

I'll come and do 60m2 if you'll pay me in Guiness

cresta57

You sound like just the bloke I don't want
Have you seen the price of Guinness?