By Christopher Langdon
You couldn’t have helped but notice the Turnbull Government’s continued attack on trade unions. This tactic is not new and has played out in other countries previously, namely the USA, where these tactics – along with media propaganda – have ruined both the middle class and the economy. The tactic being, simply; attack, discredit, and destroy the trade unions, in essence removing the collective voice. Once that is complete the sign up ‘free trade agreements’ that have off-shored jobs kick in. And why? Purely for profit. Corporations rush straight into developing countries where the exploitation of workers is rife.
The knock-on effect of this is no apprenticeships, no engineering roles, and no money in the country to grease the wheels of the economy as bucketloads of money go offshore.
Another effective tactic used by those corporations who lobby (effectively bribe) our government is painting the false illusion that there is a ‘skills shortage’. Keep in mind we have 750K+ unemployed and 1.2 million visa workers of varying kinds which has allowed them to open the floodgates and import labour. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problems whatsoever with people coming to the country and earning a living for their families. But I do have a problem with foreign corporations who pay no tax in this country whilst at the same time undermining our wages, which is what’s happening at the moment.
Over the past couple of years we have had massive amounts of layoffs all over the country, businesses failing, and vast tracts of farmland going to foreign investors. Are we not worried about our food, fuel, water, energy, security? The iron ore price jumped the other day adding $44 billion to the coffers of the big players. Does that mean more jobs here? No. Does that help improving wages and conditions here? I don’t think so!
Australia should be a powerhouse in the industrialised world, but this government (in particular) has sold off resources and infrastructure, and they are madly trying to privatise what’s left, all without consultation of the people that own those assets, namely you and me.
Are you aware that 86% of our mines are foreign owned or that 98% of our oil and gas assets are foreign owned? This is just the tip of one very big iceberg.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to end up like the USA working for $8 p/hr, with no insurance, no medical treatment, an education system in ruins, prisons-for-profit or privatised energy companies. Can anyone say what happened to our inalienable rights? Once again just the tip of the iceberg.
The rhetoric you hear from these foreign corporations, and sadly our government, is that we are far too expensive to do business with and that’s why we have to go to China, Bangladesh, or India (for example) where workers get paid $2 a day. Why aren’t we shouting “if we are that expensive that you have to go and exploit people in developing countries, who get $2 a day, why are we paying prices for goods that are comparable to the cost of something locally manufactured?” An example, a smartphone costs on average $80-$100 to make in China yet we pay something around $1,000 for the finished product. Don’t these questions enter your mind? The above example can be expanded across the board to include a range of products such as cars, clothing and textiles, food … the list goes on.
Bottom line: where is the benefit to Australians by off-shoring ( and free trade agreements) all the jobs?
I hear our Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull bleating on about how militant and bad the unions are and yes, there may be a few ‘bad eggs’. But people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones The corruption within our government and foreign interests is simply unbelievable. Travel and accommodation rorts, political lobbying (effectively bribes), little or no consultation with the people of this country when signing up so called ‘free trade agreements’ or selling of assets and privatisation of the rest. Once again the very tip of the iceberg!
As far as Turnbull’s latest attack on the working person goes, he might need reminding that Australia has just come out of the largest construction boom this country has ever seen. Did the union movement stifle that, Mr Turnbull? No, of course not. If anything, during those boom times, cost blowouts or corporate failures were more often than not the result of bad management practices than anything else. But hey, why not blame the unions? Why not keep up with the propaganda from the corporate machines that it’s always either the worker’s or the union’s fault.
All the trade unions are under attack (from the government, the media, and the corporate sector), and I am beginning to wonder if the attacks will ever stop until the unions (and our rights) are destroyed. What then? Lower wages? Lower standards in our working conditions? More money and jobs going to foreign entities?
We must resist! It is in ours and our future’s best interest to maintain the standards we have fought for and won, but are now seeing stripped away from us. We need to stand with our unions or we may as well say “hello” to the insidious casualisation of our workforce and worse still, the ‘Americanisation’ of our working conditions.
