Public Holidays

[Sam]

The Australian Government is introducing new laws on employment
contracts. A senate inquiry has focused on the proposed exemption of
small businesses (with less than 100 employees) from dismissal
procedures. A second hot issue is public holidays. Queensland senator
Barnaby Joyce calls for a special status of public holidays,
specifically Christmas Day, Good Friday, New Year's Day, Anzac Day and
Australia Day.

As far as I see it, the individual employees and employers should be
free to negotiate whatever times and days they want to be working on,
as long as it is made sufficiently clear what the expectations are, so
that people aren't tricked into signing a contract that forced them to
work on Sunday or New Year's Day without their full knowledge and
consent.

Trade Unions should re-invent themselves. Instead of seeking to
dominate a particular industry through a single trade union, each union
should split up into multiple organizations, each offering their
services to people. Then, they should widen their scope, offering their
services outside their traditional area of interest and also offering
their services to the unemployed, to future employees and trainees, to
employers, to clients of companies and to the public at large.

What's your view?

Sam

[Sam]

It seems that a compromise deal is being worked out, on the basis that
people cannot be sacked for refusing to work on Crhristmas Day, Bozing
Day, New Years's Day, Good Friday or Anzac Day. Apart from that, people
will be free to negotiate whether they want to work or not at those
days, and at what rates.

We'll see over the next few weeks how things work out.

Cheers!
Sam