Originally posted by Bloodstained Angel
No, I'm referring to the increasing casualisation of the Australian workforce
Low wages
no sick leave
no long service
no holidays
no awards
no contracts
no standard hours
hire and fire as you please
no OHS
no benefits
no picnic day
no nothing
maximum flexibility - but for the workers - sweet FA and thanks for coming but we don't have any work for you today ....
that sounds like the kind of scenario a Union bashing arch conservative such as yourself would relish
cheers
This is my standpoint on those issues
Low wages...Australia has well above average wages in the world
no sick leave.....Casual wages are uplifted 20% to cover for this
no long service....this should be scrapped. No other industrialised country has it.
no holidays........again ...covered by 20% uplift
no awards.....casual pay is covered by awards
no contracts.....contract or award in most cases
no standard hours......it wouldn't be casual otherwise
hire and fire as you please.....demand related
no OHS.......what is that?
no benefits.....having a job and pay is a benefit.
no picnic day...too right.
no nothing...which meams 'something'
What we are talking about is payment for services rendered, not charity. If a company needs staff then it hires them. If there is no work for the company it makes no margin and cannot afford to pay for workers standing around doing nothing ( or an Ansett occurs).
Four factors effect the increase of casual working.
1) Many prefer it. My wife works four days a week and loves having the extra day off. I desire to cut down to 3 days by time I'm 55
2) Automation and computerisation means companies can often need people for shorter times. eg a small business who used to have a full time book keeper may now only need that person part time because of software making it a less time consuming requirement.
3) Women with children at school are wanting casual positions more and more so they can drop the kids off at school, go to work and collect them again
4) All of the reasons you gave above. I have employed/ am employing casual people that expressly ask to have the higher wage rather than all the add-ons that make employing people administratively expensive. So one lady works three days a week for $17,200 a year instead of $14,000 plus holdays, sick, long service, etc. She even wanted me to pay her superannuation as salary and not into a fund but that is illegal. It is her choice and that of a lot of others to forego benefits for extra cash. To me it makes sense that people can have a choice. Unions are all about 'no choice'
Yes there are bad employers around but many of us a very caring and treat employees as team members. They are in fact our biggest assett so why wouldn't we care? The old workers/bosses syndrome is only alive by virtue of the unions who would not exist in their current form without extolling such conflict. In reality many workplaces are very happy with mutual consideration and all working together for the common good.