36 Ways to Get Fired
The LHMU has put together a funny video about 36 Ways to Get Fired under WorkChoices. Yes, it does star Damo from Home & Away…
For the latest news about the Howard Government's attacks on workers' rights, read my IR posts.
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They should have stopped at 18…
Some of the reasons are just way too stupid to take seriously and their campaign will suffer.
Thought it was great – who cares if some weren’t meant to be taken seriously? Its gonna be a long hard slog to change these laws once in – and we need all the good humor we can get to sustain us. Wowserism is cold comfort indeed.
It’s not part of a campaign. It just happens to be a short film on a very high-profile political topic.
Wot the second two said.
“Its gonna be a long hard slog to change these laws once in – and we need all the good humor we can get to sustain us.”
Create the humour then. Not now when it is important to try and stop these laws…
“It’s not part of a campaign.”
It will be once it gets emailed to everyone. It will become a plain joke and that is it. I suppose it isn’t too surprising really as a fair few unions act like striking is a big joke anyway. No wonder the government hates them.
its a many facetted campaign and i think we need as many tools to use as possible.
if it raises awareness then its a good thing!
It will raise awareness of how dishonest and desperate the union movement is, which is indeed a good thing.
Dishonest as a movement how, exactly, Yobbo? And crikey, a bit of an imagination stretch doesn’t equal dishonesty.
And Craig, can I just say that most unions actually don’t act like striking is a big joke. A couple of high profile unions strike more often than others. But that does not mean that ‘a fair few’ abuse the system, much less treat strike action as a joke.
A little rough in places ( I don’t like all the humour)- but a good meme to get the ideas out there. I prefer to think of Damo as Klausy from “love is a four letter word”. …….he got sacked in that too.
Thought the idea was good.
Gets point across – we’re gonna be able to be dismissed at will.
Howard is stuffing job security – stuffing unfair dismissal rights.
LHMU is promoting vid at Home-Bake and The Big Day Out to see if they can engage young people. It seems they are just not yet across the crisis to their future working lives.
Read on LHMU site that nearly 2000 have already downloaded. If that’s true that’s good start:
http://www.lhmu.org.au/lhmu/news/1133305203_9209.html
Some may think this film unbelievable in its reasons for a worker being fired, but 35 years ago when entering the workforce, few fair workplace conditions were in place and I, and co-workers, encountered many situations similar to the examples shown. Any excuse was justifiable if an employer or manager did not like you. Howard has said himself that if a co-worker is annoying, that’s a good reason for him/her to be sacked. We need to be worried as Howard is taking us back half a century and this will hit all workers, regardless of being white or blue collar, extremely hard.
Just worked out why the ” time” I posted my comment was a bit awry.
Hey this is a sand-groper blog!
Let a thousand flowers bloom, comrades.
I think it is brilliant that the union movement is doing some alternate campaigning.
Well done to those involved.
Yeh Mao you chopped off those thousand flowers real quick after they bloomed
It’s encouraging that my little film made for a paltry $300 is elicitng such robust debate.
It’s heartening that the LHMU decided to promote it and other industrial bodies and institutions are following suit. Howard’s mean spirited and insular IR changes will have far reahing effects on ordinary Australians. Howard is spending millions to hood-wink people into believing these reforms are needed and good, and it is important that there are counter voices out there in the community cutting through the government’s lop-sided rhetoric.
The point of the film is to highlight the absurdity of the government’s position. If unfair dismissall laws are removed then workers can be fired for any reason, even for the “stupid” one’s mentioned by a previous blogger. Many of the terminations in the film, for example pregnancy already happen, especially in areas such as childcare. These workers then make an unfair dismissal claim and if found to be correct are re-instated or compensated. Even though Howard says unlawful termination will look after some instances of dismissal, like pregnancy, we are all well aware that this avenue will be extremely costly and difficult and thus deter many from seeking justice.
If the film can simplify a complex political argument into a funny, entertianing and insightful package that ordinary Australians can understand and digest then it has served its purpose.
enjoy.
And yes Matt Doran(Damo) along with the other actors are all strong opponents to Howard’s IR reforms.
Shane T. Hall
I am with Yobbo, the video is a union wankstain and does not extoll the positives of the laws, such as finally being able to legally sack someone for pilfering or malingering.
You can legally sack someone if they’re not doing their job now, Mr Howard. The difference is in the process.
I don’t understand how being pregnant isn’t a valid reason to sack someone. If they can’t walk, are sick all the time and have to see a doctor 2-3 times a week then how are they any use to you?
There’s nothing wrong with being pregnant, of course, but why should employers have to bear the cost of their employee’s decision to have children?
And why is the decision to have a baby any more deserving of paid time off or lawfully enforced retention than the decision to go for a trek through the Himalayas for 3 months?
Your ignorance is embarrassing, Yobbo. You have no clue.
I gotta a little of the legal-eagle in me…especially when it comes to the workplace.
Shane’s film is spot-on, even if in some places he takes a bit of artistic licence.
Wow $300 bucks and you;ve got the film seen by nearly 2000 people. Great stuff.
Films and vids on the web are gonna proliferate.
Great way of communicating ideas.
Good to see the Left is using this technology.
Keep up the good work LHMU
Why don’t you explain it to me then Skribe….
Hey Yobbo if you think Barnaby has saved workers from being sacked on Christmas Day then you obviously believe in Santa.
There’s no presents for Yobbos under the big tree from this workplace package.
Except if you suddenly wake up and realise you need the power of a union behind ya to take on bad bosses.
Wake up Comrade Yobbo before it is too late and you’re left wondering what happened to you when the reindeers run over your stupid alcohol-dazed bloomin’ red nose.
Yobbo, would it do any good?
So what you’re saying is A:) I’m ignorant of the “facts”, which you of course know but can’t be bothered sharing, and B:) I’m too stupid to understand it even if you did?
Typing single-line insults in lieu of argument is pretty poor. Good to see once again nobody has even bothered to try and answer my question. Guess I’ll leave you guys to it – have fun in opposition for the next 100 years.
I’d say that would be a no. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
I’m not exactly thrilled to say it, but you leave me no choice, Skribe:
Yobbo: 1
Skribe: 0
What’s really “embarrassing”, Skribe, is that you’re prepared to insult someone for their alleged ignorance without being prepared to try educating them.
You know what, Ian, Yobbo is a bigot and a sexist. He’s not interested in hearing anything that disagrees with his world view. That’s why I asked him if my explanation would do any good. If he had said yes, or even hinted at that possibility, then I would have shared my experiences as a father and as an employer why we as a society shouldn’t allow employers to sack based solely on pregnancy. He didn’t, and childishly threw a hissy-fit to boot, so why would I bother wasting my time? YMMV.
Yobbo asked you to explain your position—which is a pretty clear sign that he is interested in hearing what it is, in spite of it disagreeing with his world view—and instead of obliging him you insulted him. If it had been someone else who had asked you for an explanation, I’m guessing you would have given it to them without any fuss, but for some reason you seem to consider yourself so superior to Yobbo that affording him the same courtesy is beneath you. He didn’t “childishly throw a hissy-fit”, either; he observed that your response to his request was insulting (quite fairly) and then, having made his point, he left.
I don’t blame him. I think Red Rag is a good place to seek intelligent debate, but you’re letting the team down with this kind of crap, Skribe. The reason you should bother taking the time to share your experiences is that an undecided person could come along and wind up agreeing with Yobbo because nobody bothered to challenge him properly.
You don’t want that, do you?
I can’t argue with Yobbo’s reasoning as it has some merit. If I employed a woman who was pregnant and she was able to perform her duties right up until she took leave then I would not sack her. I would sack her if she failed to perform her duties for two reasons:
1. I’m in business to make money, not stuff around.
2. If someone tries to perform duties that are beyond their physical capabilities then leaving someone in that role is more unethical than sacking them, though forcing them to being maternity leave a little earlier is also an option.
Only a Leftie would think this is unreasonable.