Saturday, November 26, 2005

What She Said

John Campbell's piece on the Starbucks strike was very good, and justified my on-going love for him (I have sneaking suspicion that this love would be unsustainable if I was home to watch Campbell live on a regular basis, but until I am he remains the person who interviewed Noam Chomsky and John Pilger on National Radio immediately after September 11). But it also showed that it's been a long time since the Minister of Labour had a real job. This was her coment on youth rates (probably slightly paraphrased but not much):

This is just the minimum. If a 17 year old was working at the same level of productivity as a 25 year old, then they'd have a good case to make, with a good employer, to be paid at the same pay-rate
Maria Von Trapp did a really good job of showing what a moronic argument this is - so what she said.

(except the bit about being a Young Labour member - am not now, have never been, and will never be a member of the Labour party).

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:38 pm

    New Minister of Labour Ruth Dyson ( who I know has been around and about and actually is well aware of how many beans make five) said words to the effect if you are a young individual worker and have a case and have a good employer then you can go and discuss stuff together and get somewhere.

    This is true on the same sort of level as if you smoke heavily and continuously throughout your life from the age of twelve and are lucky you can live to the age of a hundred with all your bits and pieces more or less intact.

    It can happen.

    About that often.

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