IR Spotlight
Industrial relations - - Posted on May, 25 at 2:20 pm by Tim
All fears about workers losing pay and conditions under the new industrial relations laws are dispelled by the National Retailers Association:
The National Retailers Association is supporting a new workplace agreement offered by the haberdashery chain Spotlight.
The agreement replaces overtime, penalty rates and other employee benefits with a wage increase of two cents per hour.
Party down, Spotlight employees.
Posted in Industrial relations |
May 25th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
I just wish I bought lots and lots of fabric so I could start buying fabric somewhere else!
I love it how the defense for all these terrible screw-overs is: “It’s completely within the scope of the law”, as opposed to “It’s not completely unethical or unreasonable and it doesn’t screw our employees.” No one is denying that it’s totally shit. Grrrr.
May 25th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
The one joy I take from this is that more than a few of the people affected will have voted Liberal (because our prime miniature is “aussie as” and apparently cares about the battlers). HA!
May 25th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
NOthing quite says all the power has been handed to us like a two cent pay offer. I would’ve loved to have been a fly at the wall at the meeting that came up with this.
May 25th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Heard a bit of the Retailers Association attempts to rationalise that two-cent per hour pay compensation on The RN World Today program.
Although he didn’t use these exact words, he seemed to be saying that it was a bit like the reverse side of an old union ‘ambit claim’.
In the old days, unions could force conciliation and arbitration by demanding a pay rise of $100 per hour. Eventually they might settle for $4 per hour. If we assume that this 2c offer is the flip side of that, can we assume that employees might eventually get $5 per hour? Only trouble is, who negotiates a realistic rate with unions practically banned from the process?
A bit more of this employer bastardry ought to do a lot of good for Labor. Ths whole IR debacle is Howard’s and Howard’s alone. Andrews has been given an impossible task and nobody believes it’s his baby.
Costello, who’s had a past of anti-union attitudes, has wisely kept his trap shut on this one. I can’t imagine too many other senior ambitious Libs rushing forward to defend the virtues of Work”choices”.
May 25th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Clearly this is the “sandwich and a milkshake” payrise that the shop assistants needed. They will now be able to afford an extra “sandwich and milkshake” about once every 3 months. What more could they want?
May 26th, 2006 at 12:35 am
Better 2 cents an hour increase than no cents an hour at all http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mcgovern22may22,0,5962975.story?coll=la-home-commentary
Then again the workers can always vote for the party that really cares about these sorts of things
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19250566-1246,00.html?from=rss
May 26th, 2006 at 12:39 am
Besides the loathsome creatures would only waste any increase on their Godawful plasma screens and Mcmansions wouldn’t they?
May 26th, 2006 at 3:58 am
The man of steel sounded a little Stalinist in his defence of workchoices but I do think we should move on — there is a rebellion in Timor to crush and some uppity blacks on the reserves that could do with a bit more law and order.
May 26th, 2006 at 5:45 am
Trading off “overtime, penalty rates, and other employee benefits” for a wage increase of two cents an hour?
For a 40 hour week that is an extra pre-tax income of a whole 80 cents, or $41.60 per annum! Just so the rest of us can buy infinitesimally cheaper shit, assuming the owners pass on the savings to the customer and don’t keep it as profit.
I am sure the employees had a lot ‘Workchoices’ in that offer.
May 26th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
I loved Andrews’ response: potentialshop assistants should accept the 2c to “get a foot in the door of the industry”!! Yeah, it’s just like getting a summer clerkship at Blake Dawson Waldron.
Oh hang on, it isn’t like that at all.
May 26th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
I loved Howards defence of this as for “the good of the economy as a whole”
Interesting how this does not seem to apply to the “25 Million Dollar Man” who is the CEO over at Mac Bank.
We voted this mob of creeps in, now we’re getting what we deserve.
Lucky us…
May 26th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Looks like pre-dawn leftist was paying attention when our slimy prime miniature was spouting his shit….
The Government always said that it would not introduce any policy that will cut the take-home pay or living standards of the Australian workforce AS A WHOLE. The cake wasn’t going to shrink, it’s just that some unfortunate people were going to get a smaller slice.
But he HAS kept interest rates lower than they they would have been under Labor and he HAS protected us from those evil brown-skinned refugees. Shame about petrol prices though.
May 27th, 2006 at 12:37 am
A bloke at work was at the Milton Subway shop on a recent public holiday. he said to the 16 year old behind the counter “You must be making good money on a public holiday”.
The lad replied that he was making the same as any day. He said the management had called a staff meeting to which the staff were not invited. The meeting voted to give up their loading and overtime pay.
May 27th, 2006 at 10:56 am
I think that, deep down, Annette still loves her Prince Charming. Goodness knows how many others will suffer, but she knows in her heart that he’s a honest, decent man. Isn’t that called the “Battered Wife Syndrome”?
Spotlight worker lashes ‘out of touch’ Howard
Saturday, May 27, 2006.
The Spotlight worker at the centre of a dispute over workplace changes has accused Prime Minister John Howard of displaying arrogance towards low-paid workers.
Annette Harris, from Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales mid coast, was urged to go onto a contract that would have given her a raise of 2 cents an hour.
The contract would also have taken away some of her leave and holiday benefits.
The company has restored her original employment conditions, after the matter was raised in federal Parliament.
Ms Harris says the Prime Minister’s explanation of why the new laws would be beneficial shows that he is out of touch.
“I thought John Howard was just Prince Charming I guess you’d say in a way,” she said.
“But I tell you now after what’s happened and his arrogant attitude in Parliament - it’s just left me cold, I was just dumbfounded.
“I’d like him to come and walk in my shoes for a day and see what I actually do as a mother and as a worker and then coming home every night.
“I don’t have people serving me for $14.28 an hour, I’ve got to do all that myself.”
Ms Harris says she is happy with the outcome, but the experience has her concerned about the impact of recent workplace changes….
May 31st, 2006 at 11:54 am
Spotlight wage increase, what wage increase? As a
May 31st, 2006 at 12:01 pm
I am engaged by the new laws that allow employees at spotlight to be treated in this manner. Yes i sew and make large purchases at spotlight, not any more. I will return my VIP card, throw out any catalogue i receive, and will shop elsewhere from now on. I suggest the customers unite and have a spotlight FREE DAY.