Secure jobs? Better pay?

Our federal government is currently trying to pass a very contentious piece of legislation through parliament. While there are parts of the legislation which are no doubt necessary there are other parts which are very clearly designed to hand back control to the union movement.  That will cause disruptions.

Let me tell you another true story. For many years my BIL worked for a small firm in the technology industry. It was actually very small when my BIL was asked to join it and help to build it up. 

He did very well there. He liked the boss. It seemed everyone liked the boss. He held regular meetings with all the staff. Even the intellectually disabled man who kept the place clean, emptied the bins and took things from one place to the other was included in the staff meetings. Pay rises were negotiated in house as were times when leave would be taken. There were end of year bonuses and the boss took everyone out to dinner at the end of the year. It was a very good place to work and the business was doing very well.

Then the boss became ill, very ill. The vultures circled and took over the company. Things changed. My BIL left, as did a number of others. They were fortunate enough to have other jobs to go to but not everyone was that lucky. The unions moved in and demanded everyone join a union. They would do the negotiating. Leave would be decided by others rather than negotiation. Pay rises would be decided by union negotiation rather than on the work done. The cleaning was outsourced and the intellectually disabled man was out of a job. Those who had taken over the thriving little business were happy with this, indeed one of them was a former union boss.

Since then the original work place of my BIL has been taken over twice more. Each time it has grown bigger but has it grown better? My BIL has dealings with it occasionally. He might have risen high in the ranks there but he does not regret leaving. His current place of employment is not perfect but very few of the staff belong to a union yet. The unions have tried of course. They have been allowed to enter the buildings and try to "negotiate" but the workers apparently feel they have other means of negotiation and legislation to back them.

Only around 14% of workers now belong to a union. It is clear that many people no longer see the need to belong to a union. Of course unions will say differently. They say people will only get "real" pay rises if they take on the negotiating. 

I doubt this. My BIL's experience was very different. I know many others are in the same position. Reducing union "negotiating" power has not led to the fall in wages and conditions they claim. The vast majority of workers are better off than ever before because of legislation brought in over the years, legislation designed to secure jobs and wages. Yes more people would like to have permanent rather than casual work but the world has changed and the "job for life" our parents and grandparents had is no longer there.

Of course our present government is run by a party which was begun by the union movement. If the legislation succeeds then we will see a return to union control but it won't see the "good old days" of jobs for life. They simply don't exist.