Discussion on the RC into ALP...err...union corruption.

[Lazza]

[CP]

That's twice you've seen fit to snipe me now.

I stopped reading thereafter.

What is it with the left and the need to abuse as a form of debate? Once you resort to name-calling, you've already lost.

[Lazza]

[CP]

Snipes more so than abuse.

In one post you alluded to a 'born to rule' mentality and how I'm short-sighted. In the next you referred to me being a 'Carlton fan like fool'. Just because we don't see this the same way, doesn't mean that you're right and I'm wrong, therefore foolish.

You talk of 'proper debate' but hide behind 'deep passion' as an excuse to belittle just because you see your opinion as the only opinion.

I'm happy to debate, but can we lose the condescending nonsense? It's grandstanding in an attempt to play to the crowd.

[Lazza]

[Wokko]

When they fight for worker safety and a fair wage in a collective negotiation then I'm all for the Union movement. I'd also be happy if someone wants to sign a union brokered agreement they either pay some kind of fee, join the union or individually negotiate. Where I hate the unions is the whole "no ticket no start" mentality or holding employers hostage and risking the livelihood of their members for frivolous perks or power plays. Not sure if it was in this thread, but an article from the boss of Boral complaining about intimidation from the union because they deal with Grocon is an example, secondary strikes are nothing but industrial terrorism.

Links between Unions and the Mafia in the USA were common place, I'm glad that a government, even if it's agenda based, is going to stamp on that immediately. Shorten was actually the one who received the info in the first place and handed it straight to police and appears to be backing Abbott so far.

[watt price tully]

I'v been a union member all my working life including when I was in senior management.

I want my union to contribute, hopefully continue contributing to the ALP.

I like the no ticket no start rule in terms of Unionists having paid for conditions of employment etc with their union dues, paid for the union to represent them not just in terms of OHS but for fairer wages as well. That others do not join the union yet accrue benefits fought for does piss me off

The fact that some unions had links with organised crime does not speak to all working men & women. It speaks to a very low percentage.

What I don't like are the employees who enjoy the benefits that unionism has brought but don't contribute a zac.

I like the no ticket no start idea as it assists a workforce to bargain with an employer. Employers have power, collective workers have some power & individual workers have little if any power. Of course this varies from workplace to workplace but for the majority of workers who don't earn too much.

That CP & his comrades want low paid workers to lose their penalty rtes, that he & the Libs want say hospitality workers & other low pid workers such as retail assistants to lose penalty rates speaks a lot of how caring for orders they really are.

Building workers work in one of the mist dangerous workplaces imaginable - I have a sister in law by marriage who lost her husband to faulty workplace where the owners / builders were negligent. However under Jeff Kennett she was entitled to SFA, nothing happened of any consequence o the said company.

What we do know so far is that Abbott & Abetz have lied about SPC workers & their conditions. This is fact, even their own backbenchers acknowledge this as fact as do the owners of SPC.

Hopefully the appointed judge turns out to be more independent than his reputation for being a Liberal party stooge suggests.

We really should have a RC into big business & their links to the government. This current witch-hunt will serve to increase the probability of this happening when the opposition gets voted in - when the pendulum turns as it does.

[Lazza]

[1061]

I wonder how many in middle management would have their XR6's and other benefits without what the unions have put in place over many many years.

[3.14159]

[HAL]

I don't think about the workers care about crap like RCs .

[stui magpie]

[CP]

[Pies4shaw]

Except, of course, that the issuing of letters patent for a royal commission is always a political exercise. In almost every case, such commissions are established as part of a concerted political strategy. Don't misunderstand the position, there may or may not be corruption of any significant or relevant kind (but there probably is - there's almost always identifiably corrupt conduct in any large organisation, corporation or affiliation if you look closely enough) - but the purpose of having a hunt for it in this one is a purely political one.

[Lazza]