Category Archives: Industrial relations

BRIAN LAWRENCE. The Government’s tax package and Labor’s response: the perspective of a cleaner

Posted on 28 June 2019 by John Menadue

The Government’s tax package is unfair to low paid workers. In response, the Labor Opposition has just announced that it will support Stage 1 of the package, within which is embeded much of that unfairness. How might we reduce the … Continue reading →

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JOHN MENADUE. Corporate failure in Australia. They just don’t get it.

Posted on 25 January 2019 by Louisa Gunning

There is a growing and unfortunate litany of corporate failures in Australia – and not just the banks and energy suppliers. There is wage theft on a large scale. Instead of addressing their own obvious failures the BCA accuses its … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Economy, Industrial relations | 2 Comments

JOHN MENADUE. We are paying an enormous price to keep Christopher Pyne in Parliament

Posted on 23 January 2019 by Louisa Gunning

The Coalition Government ended our car manufacturing industry which had an Effective Rate of Protection of 8%. It employed 200,000 people. We are told by the Government that the void in SA will be filled by building the new French … Continue reading →

Posted in Industrial relations, Infrastructure | 4 Comments

JERRY ROBERTS Bill Shorten, Chris Bowen, Steve Bannon and the TPP

Posted on 12 October 2018 by Peter Menadue

When Bill Shorten on camera announced that Labor would support the TPP he looked like a schoolboy telling the teacher that the dog ate his homework.  Bill knew his excuse was phony.  Will the TPP be the issue that finally … Continue reading →

Posted in Industrial relations, International Affairs | 5 Comments

BHIM BHURTEL. Nepal looks toward China as a measure of last resort

Posted on 23 June 2018 by John Menadue

After an exchange of high-level trips between Nepal and India, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli is to land in Beijing on Tuesday for a five-day state visit. It will be his second state visit since his accession to … Continue reading →

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JOHN WARHURST. The Coalition’s special disrespect for unions.

Posted on 9 November 2017 by John Menadue

The raid on the offices of the Australian Workers Union by the Australian Federal Police demonstrates a disrespect for trade unions contrary to the Catholic tradition. Since the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891, Catholic Social Teaching has recognised the … Continue reading →

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ALLAN PATIENCE. Base politics or incredibly clumsy policing?

Posted on 26 October 2017 by John Menadue

Police raids on political parties or associated institutions at any time should raise concerns – and the hackles – among democratically minded citizens. The recent raids on AWU offices in Sydney and Melbourne, seemingly in search for “dirt” on Bill … Continue reading →

Posted in Industrial relations, Politics | 5 Comments

NAISHAD KAIN-REN. Saudi Arabia’s Footprints in Southeast Asia

Posted on 25 October 2017 by John Menadue

Saudi Arabia’s increased influence in Muslim-majority countries will have wider ramifications for ASEAN.

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STEPHEN LONG. Reserve Bank boss Philip Lowe urges workers to push for pay rises

Posted on 3 July 2017 by John Menadue

It wasn’t quite Karl Marx, but, for a central bank boss, it was heady stuff: The Reserve Bank governor, no less, exhorting workers to demand higher pay rises. 

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations | 2 Comments

MICHAEL WALKER. Three strategies unions are considering for their survival

Posted on 19 June 2017 by John Menadue

There are three strategies unions, in danger of lsing their relevance,  can consider for their survival:  Teaming up with other community groups, aligning with particular professions and finding members online.

Posted in Industrial relations, Politics | 1 Comment

JOHN MENADUE. 457 visas and our temporary residence system.

Posted on 19 April 2017 by John Menadue

In light of government announcement on 457 visas, I have reposted below an article originally posted on 18 November 2016.  See also at end, a link to an article by Joanna Howe in The Canberra Times yesterday.  John Menadue. Oversight … Continue reading →

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WAYNE McMILLAN. David versus Goliath: reform and reinvention (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 7 April 2017 by John Menadue

What Sally McManus’s is saying is correct, I agree with her conclusions about what has happened to workers over the last 30 years and what is becoming intolerable now in 2017. Across Australia in 2017, little or no wage growth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

WAYNE McMILLAN. David and Goliath: One step forward, two steps back. (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 6 April 2017 by John Menadue

Malcom Turnbull’s recent comment that he couldn’t work with Sally McManus the recently elected Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is just another excuse against strong union representation for ordinary waged workers.

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

DAVID PEETZ. How tax minimisation affects CEO pay

Posted on 6 April 2017 by John Menadue

Firms whose executives behave ‘unethically’, as proxied by not paying any company tax, are also likely to pay their CEOs an average of around a fifth more than firms of similar size and circumstances who do pay company tax.  

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations, Politics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country – Introduction

Posted on 9 January 2017 by John Menadue

John Menadue – introduction to Ian McAuley Series. Many have been surprised and even horrified by the Brexit and Trump results. These events are likely to be followed by similar outcomes in elections in other countries this year. Serious issues … Continue reading →

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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 1 – Who’s been left behind?

Posted on 9 January 2017 by John Menadue

In “developed” countries the benefits of 35 years of economic growth have been unevenly distributed. Many people who once had well-paid manufacturing jobs and many who live in the country have fallen behind. While this has been most starkly manifest … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Education, Health, Industrial relations, International Affairs, Media, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 3 – Globalization takes the rap, unfairly

Posted on 9 January 2017 by John Menadue

Globalization has been only one of the developments that has led to widening inequality and social exclusion. Countries that have globalized have also introduced a raft of neoliberal domestic policies, against which people are reacting.

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BOB KINNAIRD. Indian IT professionals on rock bottom 457 wages undermine Turnbull’s ‘innovation’ dream

Posted on 8 December 2016 by John Menadue

The Coalition’s cheap labour 457 visa wage policy is destroying jobs for young Australians lured into studying IT courses under the Turnbull government’s high profile ‘Innovation’ push… Indian 457 visa IT workers are being approved at much lower rates than … Continue reading →

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DAVID PEETZ. The battle over the Building and Construction Commission isn’t finished yet

Posted on 8 December 2016 by John Menadue

Now that the ABCC will mostly be a mere shadow of its former self, the Building Code becomes an even more important point of distinction. … It is the identity and ideology of the Director of the ABCC that matters … Continue reading →

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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Malcolm Turnbull will do anything to secure an outcome.

Posted on 6 December 2016 by John Menadue

Malcolm Turnbull’s experience in negotiation has been in the boardroom of Goldman Sachs, but the atmosphere of the Senate crossbench is more akin to that of the Istanbul Souk. 

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

IAN McAULEY. Holden cars, AWA TVs, Chesty Bonds underwear: Manufacturing and globalisation

Posted on 29 November 2016 by John Menadue

Ian McAuley argues that it has not been globalisation and trade that has been the biggest factor displacing jobs in manufacturing. It has been automation.

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TIM HARCOURT. Trump, Trade and jobs

Posted on 24 November 2016 by John Menadue

Australia needs to remember that embracing open markets can only be done with well developed market institutions and social safety nets. Whether you love or loathe the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump can get an economic policy issue … Continue reading →

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DAVID PEETZ. An industrial relations furphy.

Posted on 18 November 2016 by John Menadue

The media excitement surrounding the theatrics of former Senator Bob Day and current Senator Rod Culleton seemed to obscure the real issues facing the federal government’s industrial relations legislation. The government failed to put bills re-establishing the Australian Building and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Industrial relations, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

JOHN MENADUE. Donald Trump – a false prophet and implications for Australia.

Posted on 14 November 2016 by John Menadue

  Trump prides himself in being a change-agent, but he really wants to restore the past and protect privilege. He will also do a great deal of social damage. Analysis of the US election tells us that many American ‘working … Continue reading →

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JOHN MENADUE. Our Working Holiday Programs have lost their way.

Posted on 25 October 2016 by John Menadue

  I have been an advocate of Working Holiday Programs (WHPs) for over 40 years. These programs were an excellent opportunity to ‘foster closer ties and cultural exchanges between Australia and partner countries with particular emphasis on young adults.’. The … Continue reading →

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NATALIA NIKOLOVA, ROBYN JOHNS, WALTER JARVIS. We need to change more than pay for executives to do better.

Posted on 1 October 2016 by John Menadue

  The pay of executives of a company, whether in salary, bonuses or other types of remuneration, is usually justified as an incentive to improve the financial performance of a company. This has led to ever more complex performance packages … Continue reading →

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JULIE WALKER. Australia should compare CEO and average worker pay like the US and UK.

Posted on 1 October 2016 by John Menadue

  Australia should follow the lead of the United States in requiring public companies to disclose how much their CEO makes each year directly compared to an “average” rank and file employee. Ballooning executive pay contributes to income inequality and … Continue reading →

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BOB KINNAIRD. The Coalition’s Backpacker tax and work rights package

Posted on 28 September 2016 by John Menadue

  The Coalition’s backpacker policy announcement yesterday focussed on tax rates but also includes a significant expansion of work rights under Australia’s working holiday maker program (WHM or 417 and 462 visas). …. The Coalition’s main aim is to provide … Continue reading →

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JOHN MENADUE. ‘Faster economic growth demands better chief executives’.

Posted on 27 September 2016 by John Menadue

  There was a revealing heading in a recent article by Ross Gittins, the economics editor of the SMH, ‘Faster growth demands better chief executives’. He concluded his article by pointing to the need for business leadership to seize the … Continue reading →

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MARIE SEGRAVE. Exploitation of foreign workers.

Posted on 10 August 2016 by John Menadue

  On Tuesday night, SBS’ Insight program aired concerns about temporary migrant labour exploitation. These issues tend to come to national attention when a particular case is exposed, but mostly they are not seen as national priorities – and, as … Continue reading →

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