Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="DDK" data-source="post: 580276" data-attributes="member: 6469">I don't know about the UK however most Commonwealth countries seem to have fairly similar systems so I'll explain Australia's.Essentially, we have very powerful unions. You mess with an employee and the legal repercussions can be quite severe (my mother has worked for the Arbitration Commission for almost fifteen years and is actively involved in unions... in fact, she was the union rep there, so I've heard a lot of stories). So most employers stick with the minimum wage and since the unions negotiate with governments and business for a workers wages and entitlements, they tend to be OK.I haven't had a full-time job for quite a while now (long story) so I can't say what the minimum wage is, however last I remember, it was about $12 an hour, plus penalties, and that was in a crappy job.There is also the fact of union strongarming. Never underestimate the willingness of a union official to go and tell your boss just what he'll do to him if he doesn't comply. I've seen union reps earbash state managers and the state manager smile and nod 'cause he knows he can't do a damn thing.Once, a guy hired me in the building sector, which is known to have the toughest union. He wanted to screw me over in wages and tried to paint it as if he was doing me a favour. He told me to lie to the union reps which, if I got caught, could've meant imprisonment (trust me, you don't want to mess with unions here, as an employer OR employee). So I said I wouldn't say anything, but if asked, I'd tell the truth. He fired me then and there. After some negotiations with a neutral party, he rehired me since I threatened to go to the union (he was paying cash to avoid taxes, wasn't paying any penalties and the reason he wanted me to lie to the union was so that he didn't have to pay the union ticket fee). He then turned around and broke this agreement by not giving me any work (essentially he kept me as an employee but since he never put me on any jobs, I didn't get any pay, this was blatently intentional), so I went to the union.The very next day his business was shut down. The next day he was summonsed to court. By the end of that week, he was charged with defrauding the tax office and operating without a union ticket on union sites.So, the crux of the story is that our unions garuantee us a decent wage and decent conditions. Sometimes they go too far, like recently when the builder's union went on strike and within an hour the company caved to their demands, citing to the news that it was pointless fighting the unions since they'll just end up winning anyway and the company will end up losing more money through the time wasted and the hassle of negotiation.But even that is better than $2 an hour and the reliance on the kindness of strangers.They'd be shut down the very same day here it was made known to the unions. Tips are a bonus. Minimum wage is a responsibility of an employer to pay an employee.</blockquote>

Verification