QANTAS calls the unions bluff

So when was your last payrise?

 

In june i got a $50 per week nett payrise, i got that due to the boss and i having a talk about my skills and the shortage of guys that can do what i do. Before that i got a 30 per week raise in dec. I am paid MORE than $6 an hour above the award rate for my job.
Bosses are not demons and are willing to pay good money for a fair days work....

 

Well, good for you - but what about those bosses who refuse to reward good work with higher pay? That's what the union is for.

 

thats when you find a better boss

 

And we all know how simple it is to find another job.

 

I have never had a drama with it. Never had to claim the dole, and in some cases have been offered multiple jobs at a time.

The simple fact is that bosses wont want to lose staff that are good for the business and will be willing to pay a fair wage to keep them.
Unions in a lot of cases have been the cause of places shutting down due to forcing the bosses to pay unjust wages increases. Remember this, you cant get paid a million dollars for sweeping a floor!

 

Hmm, I'm only a casual worker yet lately, I am earning more per week than the cleaner, who works full time.

But we all get regular payrises anyway. We are treated fairly well, and I am lucky I have a decent job when others couldn't say the same.

 

Gee and all that WITHOUT a union ...
As a casual you should earn more, its to compensate for no sick / holiday pay.

 

I can't even take a holiday with the money I earn. I can take a few days off and that is all.

 

Thats NOT your bosses fault. If you want to earn more money upskill and get a better job.

 

Easy for you to say, isn't it?

I'm happy in my current job, and I want everyone else to be happy in their jobs. If they want a union to fight for their rights, then why do you have a problem with it?

 

I have had to work long and hard to get where i am Mak, i had to work 16 hr days, sweep up other people crap and put up with a lot. I had to work and go to school, and yes i now have it a bit easier than some. But why should a union dictate to my boss that someone that has less skills and is slower than me get the same money as i do?

I have a problem with people expecting to get paid unrealistic pay for the lower end of the job skillset.
If you are happy in your current job thats great but why should the bosses cough up more money than your job is really worth because a union says so??

 

Because the employees often work their butts off. They might not have a job that will earn them a million bucks, but they put everything into it and get rewarded with nothing.

I earn around $16 an hour at McDonalds job. I work 8-9 hour days, I work my butt off, I am never late to work, 99% of the time I will do extra shifts, I will stay longer when asked, and I work tirelessly to ensure that my boss is happy. IMO, I should be earning at least a dollar more than what I am currently.

Just because someone works in an average job doesn't mean they aren't entitled to be rewarded with extra pay.

 

No they get rewarded with PAY.

Well look for a job that pays 17 an hour then.

 

Geeez, ppl need to get a better job if your afraid or unable to talk to your boss or supervisor about pay or conditions.... seriously. Even if better is only better people.

 

Yep.

I have never had a problem with talking to the boss and if i get knocked back on something i have always been able to ask why... If i think i am worth more than what the boss is willing to pay i have just moved on.

 

Unions in the past helped to set the standard for workers and their rights without unions we would still be slaves to the business moguels.

Where these very rich and creedy people can still get away with abusing the system they do, just have a look at what they do in third world countries, slave labour including children.

What about safety, in third world countries many die or are injured due to neglect from the employer, do you think these people get a pay out?????????

Unions make many individual voices one and are largely responsible for our 40 hours per week our holiday and sick pay our retrenchment money and the list goes on.

All the working conditions that we have today can be attributed to the unions where people lost their lives to get a standard of living through work.

I say good on them, if Qantas can afford to pay their Yanky CEO Alan Joyce $2 million dollar bonus payment for this year and can ground all thier air craft and lose millions of dollars in revenue.

They can afford to pay thier employees a decent salary or wage so thier standard of living doesn't drop.

 

The anti-union brigade simply don't understand facts like that.

In fact, they are probably unaware of Modern Awards, the NES, and Fair Work Australia/Ombudsman.

 

Casuals are paid a loading (20 - 25%) in lieu of annual leave and personal leave.

This usually explains why a casual may be earning more than a full-time worker.

 

Not if she's talking about McDonald's (although I see from other posts that she may not be).

Anyway, McDonald's is covered by a union negotiated Enterprise Agreement.

 

Aren't you working at McDonald's? They're covered by the SDA Union.

And even if you aren't working for Maccas anymore, all Australians can join a union (no matter what your employer says). If you want to find out which union covers workers in your (new?) job all you have to do is contact Unions Australia:

http://www.unionsaustralia.com.au/unions.aspx

 

To anyone who thinks we dont need Unions, many employers still underpay their workers and do not provide safe and legal working conditions simply because they can get away with it. One of the legacies of the previous state Liberal government here in WA were these individual workplace agreements which in theory were supposed to allow individual workers to negotiate their own wage level, in practice what happened is that employers used these agreements to exploit workers and deny them their legal minimum entitlements under law. The foxes were in the henhouse and they took full advantage. I personally know of a number of small employers who got extremely wealthy by underpaying their workers and contracting their labor out to larger companies. This exploitation was across the board and not limited to small employers, we are still seeing employers being prosecuted here for underpaying their workers, in a recent case a construction company was found to be importing foreign workers from Asia on working visas and paying them less than 10 percent of their entitlements. It is unions which uncover these practices and force prosecution, the government will not protect your rights.

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-baggage-handler/story-fn558imw-1226165298654

 

We are covered by a union, but what I meant was that we don't have a union for each specific store. I'd actually prefer it if we did.

 

Have you worked it out yet? Unions are the working man`s biggest enemy.