Global Action International

The historical and often bloody confrontation between workers and management nurtured the massive growth of socialism and unions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During their heyday such collective union action was often valid and won many advances in working conditions and hence a higher standard of living for the masses. But by the end of the twentieth century a new wind was blowing across the workplace and across commerce in general.

The technological revolution was in full swing and many hard won union and industrial benefits were rendered irrelevant by the realities of the information technology age. Better standards of education also introduced further change and new opportunities for all. Old workplace barriers and values crumbled. The nineteenth century idea of a worker holding down the same job for an entire lifetime or advancing by seniority rather than ability were largely demolished. Today we live in a fast changing world and can expect not one, but many career changes, challenges and opportunities in our working lives. Opportunity abounds for those who wish to grasp it. Unions have to a large extent lost their bargaining power and as we embark upon the 21st century most of their long held values and rigid beliefs will by practical reality (though respected appreciated and valued) be relegated to the curiosity corner of history.

The world is so complex now that there is no longer room for the traditional antagonisms between labour, management and capital. Often labour is management and management is capital - the edges have become blurred.

Millions of working people, who individually are anything but wealthy, in fact comprise the capitalists who drive the engines of investment through their superannunation contributions which, of course, are reinvested by massive and supposedly reliable funds and their managers. The reality is that none can do without the other and therefore common sense decrees mutual respect, cooperation and justly shared rewards must be the best course forward.

The sub-prime collapse and recession of 2009 illustrate (in the most painful way) the necessity for strong, intelligent, informed and well thought through financial, investment, and industrial regulations legislation that is followed up by transparent ongoing scrutiny.

GLOBAL ACTION sees a world needing greater equality (not lesser) in which individual mutual respect, intelligence, wisdom, drive, personal goal setting and perseverance must be recognized and rewarded whatever your job, career or station in life.

GLOBAL ACTION stands for the elimination of unproductive confrontation and will put in its place an agenda for understanding and intelligent cooperation between the various sectors and interests on the industrial stage.

Under GLOBAL ACTION people will be rewarded for their own work and achievements, rather than be carried along by their union or by some system of seniority. Ability, drive, compassion and wisdom will be rewarded and age and experience respected, consulted and appreciated. Those with lesser aptitude will be encouraged to attain to the highest level they possibly can and will be rewarded for so doing.

A massive reservoir of present and future talent and energy resides in the youth of today. An equally massive reservoir of highly useful experience, expertise and wisdom resides in the older baby boomer generations. The key to a successful future world lies not in competition and bad attitudes between the two groups, but rather in cooperation and mutual respect. Management and workers need each other and must take a direct interest in the needs and challenges of the other.

It is up to government and policy makers to create the climate in which mutual respect can grow and can set the goals that will give people of all ages a clear, real, tangible, achievable vision for the future - their future.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will preserve, defend and build upon those useful, practical gains achieved by the union movement and through our industrial relations system and will push vigorously for a new beginning in practical industrial goal setting for the entire Australian community.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA'S) aim is not to destroy or even weaken the union movement, but to create an environment in which all people, rich or poor, weak, strong, worker, manager, owner or investor have equal, unbiased representation before an independent umpire who represents the community and who has the legal teeth to make clear cut binding decisions in the best interests of the whole community.

The future focus of industrial relations will be fixed firmly upon the unvarnished realities of each specific situation and that and that alone will determine to outcome of all negotiations.

For too long big business has pushed the interests of its own bottom line and of shareholders and virtually ignored its most important assets - its own staff and the community it provides goods and services to. GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) applauds the vigor and stout defense that business usually puts up in industrial relations matters (there is no harm in healthy legal tussles and debate), but equally abhors the selfish, cynical attitude and practices of some of our less responsible corporate citizens.

Government, as the executive representative of the people, must be the unbiased umpire that sets the rules for our industrial relations system. GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will not tolerate the cavalier steamroller attitude some large corporations hold towards their staff and customers. Equally, GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will not tolerate crooked union bosses, stand over tactics or unions that hold the general community to ransom through wildcat strikes, lockouts, extortion and industrial blackmail.

Under GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) industrial relations will be about just, quick, cost effective dispute resolution - not expensive divisive time wasting confrontation or get rich 'rent-seeking rent-aquisition' tactics.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) insists upon democratic secret ballots for all corporate and union office holders. That is - both company directors and union bosses.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) advocates that we tax expenditure (what people or businesses spend their money on) at one indexed, nationally regulated, and transparent percentage

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will eliminate all taxes, both state and federal (including GST, payroll, all stamp duties, land rates - even motor vehicle licenses) and will replace them all with a single automatic electronic funds transfer tax that will be levied at the indexed (published) percentage each time a person or business withdraws funds from their bank. At the same time, we completely stop taxing payroll (wages), capital (savings) or profit as at present.

This new tax will be the only government tax, rating, levy fee or charge you ever see or know and was never before possible due to the lack of EFT technology.

What percentage of tax will you pay? Probably between .5% and 1% Yes, that's right point five percent to one percent! And this will be indexed in a similar way to the CPI. It will in fact reflect the health of the nation. Low index = health nation, running fit. If the index climbs that means the government is spending too much money - unhealthy nation. In that case the government will have to find better efficiencies or cut services.

In practical terms, Government will either provide a service for free or it won't provide it at all and that will be determined by what services the people tell government they want. The more services, the greater will be the tax index percentage (tax burden). In other words the community will determine the amount of tax we all pay by deciding how much government can spend. The more efficiently the community runs, the less tax all members of the community will pay. Government, acting for the people, on their input, as their umpire will decide. If the government fails - the people will dismiss it at election time.

In nuts and bolts terms, the first step in the process of doing anything new with your money is to withdraw it from the bank. The wealthier you are, the more you withdraw and spend and so the more tax you in effect will pay (but still at the same indexed percentage that everyone else pays). A genuine user pays tax system. If you earn or use little you pay little, if you use lots you pay accordingly - but only for what you or your business purchases or uses.

"The entity that makes and controls the rules must win the game. That is why 'the people' must make the rules
and those rules must never allow either owners, investors, management, unions or workers a monopoly on winning the game. The fact is - we are collectively the people. We have equal rights and therefore should share just rewards according to our input to the grand system we call democracy. Balance and sharing under the auspices of an unbiased just and powerful umpire is vital for wealth creation and the long term good of all. That umpire, as the champion and representative of the interests of all people, is government alone (with its eyes open).

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will directly defend the fair and democratic rights and entitlements of workers, owners, investors, management and other legitimate stake holders in every workplace on the Australian Industrial scene by centering the pendulum of exertion and reward fairly for all parties.

As a strong, unbiased, umpire GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will go a long way to doing this by legislating for total transparency from all parties including owners, management, union bosses and workers, by removing 'rent extraction' * privileges and by eliminating the Al Capone practices of all parties that so damage the wider community. This includes major reforms to Industrial Relations Legislation to eliminate the privileged position of Unions that at present locks in corrosive, corrupt 'rent seeking and rent extraction' practices, community punishing strikes, picket lines, lock outs and cost free legal privilege.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will also introduce new legislation to halt the 'merciless divide and conquer' mentality of owners and investors that (in the name of economic rationalism and in some cases sheer greed) often brought over zealous cost cutting and down sizing - resulting in insecurity of work tenure and hours, falling real workers incomes and misery for tens of thousands of Australians.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will legislate to create an industrial and workplace environment that allows everyone to get on with the job by creating clear, present and tangible productivity incentives for all.

The 'closed shop', 'no ticket, no start', 'roping in' regime of industrial blackmail and extortion that has lined the pockets of unions, bedeviled the industrial scene and ripped off owners, tenants, workers, investors and in fact the entire community with inflated costs will become history under Global Action (Australia).

Finally, the cost to the community of strikes will in future by born by the opposing parties (owners/management/unions/workers), thus providing a massive incentive to reach agreement in or out of the legal process in record time and with minimal disruption and financial disadvantage anyone." Lyn Vickery.

Global Action (Australia) will legislate clear new powers and controls over both employers and unions and eliminate the merry-go-round of appeals and legal nonsense that clutter the present industrial relations system.

Clearly defined and flexible new territories of responsibility based on specialist knowledge (similar to the old fashioned trades) will be defined for each union with one newly created peak union body ultimately representing and responsible for all unions.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will push for greatly reduced, but compulsory, union style dues for all employees and organisations, both commercial and government, to cover the full costs of industrial action in the courts.
Such dues to be automatically deducted once per year by the Taxation Department and paid to a government trust body commissioned to collect, hold, invest and disburse such funds in capped limits equally to both parties in the event of an industrial dispute (equality before the law). Any surplus resulting from such dues to be invested and once per year zeroed out buy transfer to the public health system for direct use in Australian medial research and the purchase or lease of new hospital equipment.