On Saturday, the Herald Sun reported the average W.A. job seeker has experienced a fifteen per cent fall in hourly rates from the same time last year. The average hourly rate is now $51.60 a hour, down from $59.80 a year ago.
Geologists have seen the largest falls and can now expect $52 an hour, down from $71 last year. The hourly rate for an engineer has fallen from $80.40 to $70.70.
But it’s not only the mining and resources industry taking a hit.
Today, Car manufacturer Holden has given their staff the ultimatum – Take a pay cut, or suffer the same fate than Ford. This time last month, Ford announced it will close its manufacturing plants in Australia in 2016 with a loss of 1200 jobs.
In the announcement today, Holden Managing Director Mike Devereux said it costs $3,750 more to build a Holden in Australia than overseas. $2,000 is due to high labour costs.
» FIFO workers accept pay cuts – Herald Sun, 15th June 2013.
» Holden seeks worker pay cuts in Adelaide – The Australian, 18th June 2013.
» Holden warns of exit if pay cuts rejected – The Sydney Morning Herald, 19th June 2013.
“High labour costs” is yet another furphy, if not blatant lying; Japan has high labour costs, Germany has high labour costs, yet strangely enough, Australians prefer their cars…
Typical corporate thug setting out to blackmail government & workers for profit… Must! Have! More! Profit! He should be deported.
To be fair we also like alot of cars made in Thailand and South Korea where labour costs are significantly cheaper.
Now I see one of the union officials ‘requesting’ Holden to build the Captiva here.
C’mon guys! Which is it? Australian’s prefer small cars now (cruze)? Or Australian’s prefer large cars (captiva)?
These sorts of comments just show how reactive the unions have become.
As for annoying old fart’s comment: I ask, have you ever employed an Australian? Run your own business? I’d wager an Iced coffee on NO, on the condition that if you have it would have been heavily subsidized or regulated.
If Australia was really so competitive tell my why a vehicle identical to the local statesman is built in China. Why the cruze was built in Asia, and only brought to Australia after incentives from the government. Surely if we are so competitive we could build the same vehicles here and parallel export them? Like Nissan does: Navara’s are built in Thailand, Japan, Spain and are available simultaneously from different countries. Toyota has done the same previously with corolla’s.
As for German cars coming to Australia: Are you sure they are built in Germany? For example, many VW’s are from south africa, mexica etc… Not from Germany at all.
I’m sick to death of hearing how important automotive manufacturing is. Only 13 countries in the world can design and build a car……Most of these 13 are in horrific financial trouble:
Japan
America
France
Spain
etc, etc.
Are the other 170 countries that stay away from Auto manufacture keeping a secret? Makes you think doesn’t it.
The age of entitlement is over: Get used to it, or be a bitter, sour individual who blames everyone for their troubles.
Oh, BTW: How many shares of GM do you have annoying old fart? I mean, if they just make profit, profit, profit, it must be a one way ride to financial riches.
@ 3. Matty, Yes Matty I concur. I too run a business, so does my parnter. When it comes to official employment, we never employ anyone as a typical permenant, part-time, or casual. When we need work done, we always contract out to someone(s) with a pty. ltd. company only. Let them take care of their own affairs (all taxes, super, workers comp, other insurances, many other expenses…). We’ll offer what we can pay, there is always somebody that can provide service for an offered price.
A.O. Fart, its’ not necessarily the wage that is expensive, it may be though.
Back to the article, wages have been declining since the GFC, probably before that too, ss with work hours and employment. The media is now stating this.
Hey everyone! Why do we play at each other when there is a place called Canberra that we can all direct our frustrations at. Institutional government, whichever political party that may be, has always looked out for the special economic interest groups that infest the political world. They financially support most political election campaigns while the voter(the majority of us) approves this unethical behaviour by voting for theirs, not ours, political candidates into office. Maybe we should all be united instead and direct our anger at where the blame lies(politicains) and not fall for the divisive nature of the political system in Australia that encourages and promotes Australians to fight among ourselves, for them(politicians)