unions in this country (and many countries for that matter) have held businesses to ransom for far too long IMO.... When i lived in sydney I was the national distribution manager for a large company. the storeman that worked there were the highest paid in the country and the NUW gloated about how they had management by the nuts... how did they do it.... this company had 30,000 clients however 60% of its income came from just 200 clients.... whenever it was time to negotiate an eba... if they did not get their way... they would not send spare parts to these 200 clients... management after a few days would bend over and lube up after pressure from their key accounts threatenting to walk.... its a joke...

if the unions really cared about workers in this country they would stand on the docks and refuse to unload containers full of cheap rubbish that could be made here... take a $20 drill in bunnings for example.... there are probably 50 individual parts in the drill, they have to nicely package it and ship it half way around the world and sell it at a profit for $20.... the only person not making anything is the poor woorker getting a cup full of rice a day.... unions should demand that the overseas workers be paid at a much higer rate..... if nothing else the standard of living for overseas workers would improve...