Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Green agendas

Earlier this month Green MP Sue Bradford said, "...we accept the forecasts of rising unemployment over this year and the years ahead."

With that knowledge the Greens, along with UNITE, have chosen to target fast-food industry workers to agitate for higher wages. The outcome of their actions will have one of two results.

1/ A rise in minimum adult and youth rates will be forced by legislation which will lead to either fewer jobs (which they can claim was going to happen anyway); and/or reduced company profitability and/or higher prices to the consumer.

Fewer jobs won't really bother the Greens who embrace social security as a lifestyle for whoever wants it. And if Bradford can get the youth rate raised she will then move onto bringing benefit rates for 16 and 17 year-olds in line with adult rates.

Reduced profitability of any multi-national is highly desirable.

And increased prices will mean reduced consumption of fast-food. Kedgley will be delighted about this. Kedgley hates the food and Nandor hates the packaging.

2/ The campaign will fail but not without causing major disruption and agitation. Some consolation.

So ask yourself. Why the fastfood industry?

The extreme left are exploiting these particular workers to promote a number of their own agendas. Those workers need to know that if this campaign succeeds, on balance, they will find themselves no better off. Some will lose jobs, some will lose income support due to a larger pay packet, all will end up paying more as the costs of products and services goes up to meet higher wage bills across the board. They are just the meat in the sandwich - or the burger in the bun .....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of the features of the fast food industry, McDonalds in particular, is that it specialises in employing people who have little or no job skills and then training them up by way of a fairly regimented programme so that they acquire good and valuable work habits. They are then more or less expected to leave for better paid jobs. The fast food industry have factored in a high turnover of staff, something that would be a cause for concern in most other industries.

From what I have read in the US a very high proportion of workers began their working lives in the fast food industry.

The striking workers who complain that they can't make ends meet on their income don't realise that they are not supposed to. They are suposed to leave and use the skills they have acquired and obtain higher paid work elsewhere and make room for new people to come in and obtain work training. By remaining and striking and eventually obtaining higher pay they are spoiling it for everyone.

Unknown said...

Of course there is also the other main industry that will get affected by this - Supermarkets.

Im sure everybody will be happy when their bread and milk prices go up along with the length of the queues.

Unfortunatly the average NZer is also not bright enough to actaully attribute the cause and effect together.