Global Action Employment

THOUGHT: "Hope begins with a pay cheque!" Colin Powell US Secretary of State 2002.

How did the lucky country become a nation of mugs? The answer is Australians are too nice. Too trusting! We let down our guard and have been ripped off, punched, drilled and stitched by experts - the foreign bankers, large investors, multinationals. These people are not necessarily our friends - in fact they are often mortal enemies! As they grow rich, our children go without and in some cases starve! As Powell so rightly said "Hope begins with a pay cheque!" But to have pay cheques we must first have jobs!

In an ever changing world GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will create the environment in which every able Australian who wishes, can find and hold down a full time job or more importantly a career.

By law, Australians will have first priority over foreigners on all work positions. Charity - and jobs - begin at home.

Many hundreds of thousands of over forty year old workers are or have found themselves unemployed and try as the might they cannot regain meaningful employment. Often they are politely rejected with the comment "sorry you are overqualified." Their years of training, loyal service, experience and on the job know-how count for nothing in a society in which maturity and wisdom are devalued and often inappropriate academic qualifications are regarded as king.

That is not to say that Global Action (Australia) does not support academic expertise and training. We do. But let it be quite clear. An academic qualification means you worked hard and passed an exam and while it should be a (very important) first step into the workforce, it is not a license to rule over others who, on the basis of their practical on-the-job experience, have been carrying the country for years. An academic qualification is also a very poor guide to workplace competence and no guide at all for an employer to the on the job attitude of a prospective future employee.

Global Action (Australia) will legislate to outlaw the disqualification of over forty year old job applicants on the sole basis of "over qualification" and will move to further reverse all discriminatory factors acting against such job seekers. In addition Global Action (Australia) will move to examine instances of dismissal of workers approaching age forty to pre-empt any rhorts that may occur in that age group.

#Note: Global Action (Australia) does not support promotion on the bases of seniority, but recognises that a balance must be struck between seniority and academic qualifications. In the distant past seniority ruled. In the more recent past academic qualifications have ruled. We seek to provide a balance that reflects the best of both worlds and that in some cases allows older workers to retrain or up skill by providing special tertiary entrance opportunities to this group to put them on the same academic footing as their younger colleagues.

Global Action (Australia) will also work tirelessly to draw older workers (who wish) back into the workforce so that this huge pool of talent will not be lost.

Many Australians would prefer stable full time to casual or part time work which entails messy rosters and endless confusion about weekly or fortnightly take home pay. How can any family work set their budget when they don't know from one week to the next how much they will earn? How can any family in such a situation know how much credit they can safely manage? The answer for the thousands of Australians in this situation is they can't.

Both the Labor and Liberal Governments are responsible for this debacle. Together they have turned this country into a third world, bones of the backside, labour market by their adoption of a whole range of incorrect or inappropriate legislation that has taken away all of the checks and balances that once gave our nation commercial and employee stability. Ask almost any working Australian over the age of forty whether they believe they are better off and more secure in their job or career than before and the answer is a resounding no! Ask them did they ask successive governments to create the gut wrenching financial mess in which many individuals and families now find ourselves? Again the answer is no!

Then why are we in this sorry mess? The answer is that our brain dead governments, ministers and advisors were beguiled by economic bullshit and the flashy slight of hand of money grabbing foreign interests who are intent only upon control and bleeding this country dry.

All the cries and warnings of Australian business, the rural sector and the unions have gone unheeded. Do you think Whitlam, Hawk or Keating give a damn about the decades of damage they caused? Of course not, they were not in struggle street. Do any of the more recent liberal Prime Ministers or does John Howard look poor? I think not. You see, these people have never lived as ordinary Australians must. They have no idea and live in an Alice in Wonderland of theory and babbling government advisors who mostly wouldn't have a clue.

GLOBAL ACTION'S employment policy aims towards full, mostly full time, employment in a stable, growing, economy that protects the financial futures of all Australians. Anything that stands in the way of that objective will be strongly opposed - regardless of what economic theories or any outside interests such as the G7, or the World Bank, think. They are not acting in Australia's best interests - only their own, and if their policies differ from ours, well tough for them!.

Tens of thousands of small business owners across the nation would love to employ more staff - especially young people. But they cannot afford them because of lack of profit margin, over competition, and the massive load thrust on their backs by government compliance, tax and other unnecessary over regulation.

Thousands of medium size and larger businesses would gladly put on more staff or shift staff from part time to full time duties if their budgets and the business environment allowed and if they could get off the treadmill of economic rationalism. This country exists for its people and for their ever improving quality of life, not as some mechanical and human milking cow to be sucked dry by a handful of greedy heartless investors or foreign money grabbers.

GLOBAL ACTION will bring change in this great land and give quality of life back to the people. The lucky country will exist again.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) recognises the contribution of all who comprise our workforce, especially the Baby Boomers, and will support any who wish to remain in the workforce for as long as they are able.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) urges the Baby Boomers not to retire, but simply to change gear. By this we mean change your life style - get some fun out of life. Perhaps work a few less hours. Unshoulder some of that responsibility. Perhaps even quit your career or job and take up part time duties or studies. Perhaps turn your hobby into a small business. We advocate that you change your perspective on work, don't just retire and become a vegetable - your experience is too valuable to the community.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will explore ways by which older employees can gradually and at their own pace exit the workforce without financial disadvantage.

It is the responsibility of government to create a strong environment for across the board job growth by creating positive, timely and innovative legislative, economic and fiscal opportunities. How dismally former governments have failed in this area.

1. Legislate to protect efficient commercial enterprises wishing to shift staff from part to full time work from
competition driven staff downsizings or rationalisations. We will go forwards, not back.

2. Legislate tax advantages and worthwhile incentives to encourage small and medium retailers to take juniors
off the dole and place them in full time work.

3. Overhaul the apprenticeship schemes and provide incentives for tradesmen and small businesses to take on
new apprentices. Enable apprentices to move career wise with flexibility.

4. Legislate tax advantages to employees who have staff attending recognised further training (full
tertiary) courses during normal working hours.

5. Legislate to outlaw discrimination against over forty year old job seekers on the basis of age or
"over qualification."

        6. Legislate in specific industry areas badly in need of control. e.g. To create to economic environment for fuel
            suppliers to again employ pump attendants. ( This would foil many petrol station drive offs, hold-ups and provide vastly
            improved customer service. These places are disservice stations at present. There is no service! ).

7. Legislate strong new powers and controls upon Unions to bring them into the new century. See Unions.

During the Federal Labor years the pendulum swung too far in favour of employees in the area of dismissal to the point that many businesses would not put on new staff for fear of the law if those staff turn out to perform unsatisfactorily. During the latter Howard years the pendulum lurched back the other way with workplace reforms and individual workplace agreements that many workers found disadvantageous.

GLOBAL ACTION will instigate a major review of all employment and dismissal legislation with a view to providing equitable rights for both employees and employers and rapid, inexpensive dispute resolution that, while it will include unions, will not afford a return to the bad old days of union activities.

Under new legislation to be introduced by GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) employees’ entitlements will be met before those of any other creditor in the event a business is bankruptcy. The priority for payment on the receivership or liquidation of a business will be as follows: employees, Australian Tax Office, secured creditors, unsecured creditors and owners or directors of the business (some wages and entitlements exempted).