Why are we creating a non-working poor class when we desperately need to lower wage costs in Australia and create more jobs in order to save industries such as manufacturing?

Let’s consider genuine solutions to save our manufacturing industries and boost our rural and mining sectors.

It is time to address the big elephant in the room- Australia’s high labour costs, non-competitiveness on an international scale and impractical union demands such as continuously increased wages without increased inefficiencies (which are ensuring that industries struggle and the manufacturing industry dies).

We are a becoming a welfare state that funds a non-working class poor whereby many people are paid NOT to work. Plus our current Government creates unnecessary Public Service Sector jobs to fudge its poor employment record and buy votes.

According to the Institute of Public Affairs, a massive 409,000 public sector jobs since 2008 have been created at an increase of 60% versus only 279,000 private sector jobs at an increase of only 20% as reported in the Australian Financial Review on April 19 2013.

As a result, there are approximately 270,000 extra workers than required ( if efficient Governments were run )costing the country $27 billion p.a. (effectively paid not to work as their jobs are not required with many using typical bureaucracy to go slow, achieve little and be mediocre. These tactics are wasting precious taxpayer monies and providing little in the way of actual public service).

This government has also allowed tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to jump the queue. Illegal boat people arrive in Australia and are fed, accommodated and added to our welfare system at $220 Australian dollars per week on the condition that they DON’T work.

This breeds a non-working class poor and encourages thousands of more clients for people smugglers, creating a booming business for them. The people smugglers charge between $10,000 to $50,000 for a life risking boat ride to Christmas Island, en-route to a great life in Australia, where the illegal immigrants can earn more than a year’s salary per month than they would in the country they came from, but only if they “don’t work”.

Why are we creating a non-working class poor in Australia plus public sector jobs that aren’t needed when we should be creating a working class starting on below award wages like a traineeship with a step ladder to a future of higher award wages and a more abundant future for them?

We need to lower our high wages (by averaging the cost down to avoid lowering existing Australian workers’ wages down) and increase our efficiencies. However, our current government has been controlled by some large, greedy, self-interested and often corrupt unions that deliberately prevent this.

The survival of many industries requires us to accept and introduce lower cost Labor and there are people who are more than happy to work for lower than the award wages for a shorter period of time . The existing illegal boat arrivals (until they are stopped) and future legal arrivals can provide lower cost Labor and would be grateful for a job and a future that isn’t welfare dependant.

Although I support a policy of low cost Labor, I do not support one that would affect Australians’ current jobs and current award wages as this would not be popular or even necessary if we consider a low cost Labor solution from new immigrants. However, this solution can help industries keep current Australians employed by allowing a lower award wage for new immigrants. Consider it like an apprenticeship or traineeship whereby new immigrants start on a much lower award wage and over a 3-5 year period work their way up to award wages.

Many immigrants would be grateful for a job and an opportunity to get a start and let’s face it, when starting our career- we all started on lower wages and worked our way up over time.

Now before unions and critics suggest that we are supporting a working class poor, let’s face the facts that currently the government is creating a non-working class poor from illegal boat people plus existing Australians stuck on welfare plus wasting $27 billion a year of public middle class welfare employing 270,000 extra public workers than what is required (from whom we get little value).

We believe in innovative solutions like this that neither major party has the guts to put forward, as they are too worried playing politics than debating real policy initiatives.

With a solution like this- will it help the manufacturing industry lower its wage costs by averaging its wage cost downwards?

Will it stimulate more jobs as many industries would be able to afford more employees on a low cost wage traineeship which they can’t currently afford with a high cost award wage?

Will it perhaps be the only way some industries will survive?

Naturally we have to combine these solutions with increased productivity and efficiency gains as we will never compete with Asian low cost wages. However we need the unions to be prepared to start speaking the truth about the need for workers, to become more efficient and to end the go slow working practices in many Government Departments and union controlled industries.

Unions need to show real leadership and tell Australian workers the truth which is:

If you don’t stop the go slow tactics, if you don’t work faster and smarter and be more productive and efficient, then you won’t have a job in the future, let alone a pay rise, as your jobs will be outsourced overseas.

I challenge the unions and the Government to respond and show leadership or be the cause of massive future job losses for Australian workers which is hardly acting in the workers’ interest as Labor and unions try to claim, whilst their very polices are destroying industry and future job creation for our nation.

We should not be concerned with workers going on strike

The real danger to an economy is if the entrepreneurs go on strike and if the current government is re-elected, many will do so by way of refusing to continue investing in Australia and employing Australians.

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. http://www.jamiemcintyre.com

Author Bio: Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Category: Education
Keywords: Economy,employment,Government,Increased Wages,Jobs,Lower Wage Costs,manufacturing,Non-working Class,