Our Taxpayer Dollars At Work

[Back In Black]

Not sure where to post this, hence general fishing chat. I am a nurseryman & have been for 35 years, supplying Bunnings stores from Cairns to Canberra, & have employed hundreds of people over the years. My attitude to work is, no work, no pay, hence the hundreds of ex employees. You either work your ring off, or someone else will & they will get your job.
I had a classic example here today of why our country is going down the tubes.
We had 2 ladies here from Biosecurity Qld testing some stock for "Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid" (PSTV)
They had to take samples from 54 plants, & when I mean take samples, physically cut a section of the plant off & bag & label it.
For each plant, they had to change disposable gloves & clean the pruners with bleach. They ran out of gloves & bleach so had to leave & find a Woolies to get new supplies.
This took 2 ladies from 10am to 3pm, a job we would have had done in 20 minutes max, one person. I had to walk away from them & bite my tongue, as I'm thinking this is my tax dollars being wasted!!
Hate to think how much work will be involved in testing 54 samples in a lab. Should carry them through to the New Year the rate these ones worked.
They would absolutely die working in small enterprise. I am classified as a production nursery, as we physically produce the plants. I keep reminding my guys, slow production = no hours
We seem to be top heavy with govt, management & overly regulated, & it is us, the workers, that are paying for these clowns & I personally resent it.
Ah, that feels better!!
Tony

[Crunchy]

Dont get me started Tony, ..like the time no less than 8 WHS turned up at our joint to conduct an investigation........we only employ 9 people! Two could have done the investigation easily ...in fact several of them just stood in the the car park all friggin day.

Or the the number of Qld govt "xyz Managers" that seem to perpetually attend conferences - mostly their own....most Qld Govt sponsered conferecnes I have been to half the bloody people attending are themselves. I have a big stack of Govt contact business cards on my desk that whenever I see it I just thik waste waste waste....they always introduce themselves "Oh we are here to help you...." Oh yeh great to know....how come I never hear back from buggers then, too busy attending the next conference I guess!

Or the women who came for a job recently from Qld Govt clean out, "It was great, I only really had to do one days work a week"....yep, prolly not going to cut it in the real world then...."Um OK we'll be in touch...."

Your right, that does feel better.....(Appologies to any Govt workers who actually do work hard and dont just waste our tax money.... both of you)

[PinHead]

wait till you have to deal with the Fair Work Ombudsman...that is a giggle..all the "evidence" they have to acquire and recite certain pieces of legislation and then give you the wrong information. Then another knob comes along and says you are in the wrong 'cos you acted on the incorrect information given by their office originally. I wonder why he looked at me the way he did when i told him to f off.

[Si]

are your workers allowed to look at Ausfish?

[PinHead]

are your workers allowed to look at Ausfish?

I don't have any anymore..not since Rudd's ridiculous Modern awards came into being and I finally worked out the crap involved in them. Just me now..YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to think most people thought work choices was bad..perhaps they should fully read and understand the modern awards pertaining to them.

[cdcfish]

Could not agree more. This is something that a lot of people find hard to believe, If you make things to hard for the employer (increasing benifits to the employee beyond fees-ability) there will be less and less employers out there. Which in turn will will affect the emploees. Its simple no business = no jobs

[cdcfish]

not that i dont think that employees dont deserve to be looked after by the way

[BREAMBOSS01]

I recently got sacked unfairly from my apprenticeship, as I was being treated poorly by my boss so I reported him to the apprenticeship board. They told me I don't have to take the bullying and that they can find me another employer.. So they put him through the ringer resulting in me being sacked.. You know what none of the government agencies give a rats about it, I tried fair work, the apprenticeship board and even wph&s for workplace harassment.. They all say call this department or that department passing the buck

So that has left me with no job, no support and trying to live on ~$200/fortnight as i am not classed as unemployed but an out of trade apprentice. While the boat people who come illegally into the country are getting ~$400/fortnight, I don't see how this country will turn out when the people who want to work seem to get penalised while the lazy dole bludgers etc just keep receiving government handouts..

[Zippidy]

The "boat people" work for the $400/fn.

[BREAMBOSS01]

The "boat people" work for the $400/fn.

What do these boat people work for? They go on hunger strikes and destroy their detention centres that our tax dollars pay for.. I do not like being on centrelink payments as I believe you have to work for your money, even as an apprentice I worked as hard if not harder for my $7.20/hour as the trades on $35-40/hour.. But it has kept me off the streets and I am great full for it until I can find a employment..

It is the dole bludgers who have never had a job in their life and do not intend on getting a job in their life and can easily get there payments every fortnight to buy there smokes and alcohol while I have to sit on the phone for an hour or more and plead for my $200/ fortnight..

I am an Australian citizen and I think it's pathetic that the Australian government help the boat people get jobs and give employers incentive to employ them.. While a hardworking Australian citizen can't even get a look in from the government agencies...

That is where your tax dollars are being wasted...

[PinHead]

1. the boat people are not illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants to this country arrive by plane.
2. No asylum seeker in a detention centre is eligible for any payments.
3. You are correct about the dole bludgers..no employer wants people with their attitude sothey will stay unemployed.
4. The Govt needs to look at other payout recipients..single parents and disability pension ...lotsthere that can work but choose to stay on bnefits.

Whilst waiting for a continuation of your apprenticeship..why do not something like work at Maccas or a supermarket etc.

Why were you sacked unfairly?

[BREAMBOSS01]

1. the boat people are not illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants to this country arrive by plane.
2. No asylum seeker in a detention centre is eligible for any payments.
3. You are correct about the dole bludgers..no employer wants people with their attitude sothey will stay unemployed.
4. The Govt needs to look at other payout recipients..single parents and disability pension ...lotsthere that can work but choose to stay on bnefits.

Whilst waiting for a continuation of your apprenticeship..why do not something like work at Maccas or a supermarket etc.

Why were you sacked unfairly?

Believe me, I have applied to near on every fast food joint in my town.. Most places don't like employing anyone over 18 as they have to pay to high a wage..

It's a pretty long story of being sacked but ill try be brief, I was working in a ceiling space when a beam gave way and down I went through the ceiling.( Who hasnt?). Boss tried to make me do callouts for a month as punishment meaning I could not leave town to visit my ill grandmother.. I reported him to apprenticeship board, wph&s , who went through him. And found I was being paid incorrectly and working in unsafe conditions. He got the shits and came up with a bunch of rubbish and sacked me. There was nothing I could do...

[PinHead]

Believe me, I have applied to near on every fast food joint in my town.. Most places don't like employing anyone over 18 as they have to pay to high a wage..

It's a pretty long story of being sacked but ill try be brief, I was working in a ceiling space when a beam gave way and down I went through the ceiling.( Who hasnt?). Boss tried to make me do callouts for a month as punishment meaning I could not leave town to visit my ill grandmother.. I reported him to apprenticeship board, wph&s , who went through him. And found I was being paid incorrectly and working in unsafe conditions. He got the shits and came up with a bunch of rubbish and sacked me. There was nothing I could do...

thankfully never been through one.

[kind_cir]

Boat people, employees, people recieving benifits, employers. There are bad in all groups, and there are good.
I prefer to put all people into 2 groups regardless of their lable.

#######s, and non #######s

[Back In Black]

not that i dont think that employees dont deserve to be looked after by the way

From a boss' perspective, it pays to look after your staff. The cost of retraining, hiring & firing, & the associated risks that come with it are huge. A business is only as good as its staff, & I have great workers. Juna & I work side by side with them, leading by example, & I do believe that is why we have great people, as we lead by example & won't ask them to do anything we wouldn't (not that we shouldn't be able to though)
Brad, I am different from many employers in that I only employ older people. My youngest staff member is 30, but the majority are in the 40's & 50's. The reason is they have 20-30 years work experience behind them, they usually have a mortgage so they have to work, but they are also of a different vintage & attitude to the younger ones today who believe that just by turning up for work, or attending, is enough to earn a pay packet. The drop off in work ethic from even 10 years ago, let alone 25, is staggering. We have become a "benefit" based country where hand outs are the norm. I was brought up with "no work, no food" & I really like my tucker, so I learnt really early to work like a dog.
I tell my guys very openly they will never lose their job with me. All they have to do is make themselves indispensable to the boss, so I can't do without them. We employ about 10-12 people, & I need everyone of them. They all start at least 10 minutes early every day & never leave until the job is done. These are the sort of things that will keep you a job.
Putting your boss into the apprenticeship board & WHS was never going to be a career move for you. I don't know the circumstances, apart from your side, but I have learnt from experience there are 2 sides to every story, & it is amazing just how different they can be at times.
Tony