The Business Council’s Michael Chaney has a short piece in this morning’s AFR (subscription required but see the BCA press release here) on WorkChoices which came into operation a year ago on 26th March 2006.
That was the day mass sackings were due to commence with pay and conditions destroyed throughout the workforce. But that hasn’t happened – since that time 200,000 new jobs have been created while wages have continued to rise as they have through the 1990s.
Unemployment is at its lowest level for 31 years with (horror-of-horrors) skilled labour being in short-supply. Class war between unions and pitiless bosses hasn’t worsened either - industrial disputes remain at their lowest level since 1913.
With wages more closely linked to productivity wage increases send out useful signals about where labour can most valuably be employed. This helps to create jobs and to improve general productivity and living standards.
Mr Rudd and his union mates have switched from trying to identify victims in these developments to building a campaign identifying potential victims of workforce reform. We are, according to these ninnies, all potential victims from WorkChoices - its just a question of time.
We will be real victims if the opponents of WorkChoices are successful in winding back industrial laws to those that prevailed in the 1980s. According to Access Economics reforms over the 20 years to 2004 have directly created 315,000 Australian jobs.
John Howard is right in refusing to retreat from labor market reforms even given the unfavorable election outcome in NSW. The Age, today, predictably emphasizes the unpopularity of IR reform in the face of union propaganda rather than its benefits. Their review of the outcomes of WorkChoices emphasizes the opposition campaign against it rather than its practical benefits.
We will all be worse off if the union-Labor scare campaign successfully turns back the clock. Skilled, unskilled and female workers will all face reduced labour market opportunities if the link between what they can produce of value and what they are paid is muddied by trade union backed Labor Party stupidity.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
What has workchoices that EBAs don't apart from the Minister being able to veto ANY agreement.
Fred
Productivity focus steals away the fact that the least able to find work are able to do so under flexible arrangements.
Arguing or insinuating that Labor reform has an adverse impact on producitvity is a new one in economic theory that is perhaps left alone. What it does have is a tyranny of aggregates effect as those less efficient are able to find jobs. Labor reform expands and broadens the labor market.
Would you please provide evidence that there have been social costs arising from deregulation prior to 2004/5 as I don't see it.
Fred, I think the recent performance of the Australian labour market has been outstandingly good in terms of unemployment reduction.
I also think that the fact that across the board wage increases have not developed in response to excess demands in the resources sector is a testimony to thye advantages of a decentralised system.
Wages have grown most strongly in the sectors where skills were in short supply without overall inflation.
I don't understand why diminishing returns should emerge when the primary intent is to tie a worker's reward to their productivity. This should generate productive effort choices.
I think the trade unions live in a Victorian world where workers are paid a wage as a type of charitable donation from their employer not because workers and a firm reach a mutually agreeable deal. The latter view explains why productive workers in competitive markets won't suffer - its in their employer's interest to pay them a wage that reflects their marginal productivity.
I am never sure if Fred Argy is happy with higher employment or not.
ARE YOU HAPPY FRED?
Fred My apologies for the strange question.
In my opinion higher employment is unequivically a good thing. A terrific thing. A job defines who you are and what you are. We are having a reunion on Saturday and I am sure the most asked question will be " What are you doing now"
If the answer was "absolutely nothing" the conversation would turn stone dead.
There is no doubt in my mind that the work-choices policy has increased employment opportunities.
Collective bargaining is a crock because not all workers are equally skilled or motivated.
Dismissing a worker for some misdemenour leaves you with a problem! How to find another worker.
Having tried the carrott and the stick approach to motivating workers , IT IS A NO-BRAINER
Post a Comment