En Passant

Could it be that low profit rates are causing the problems of the economy? Not too much Government. Not too little Government. Not over-regulation. Not under-regulation. Not over-consumption. Not under-consumption. Not too many people.  Not greed. Low profit rates.  If so the way production is organised under capitalism is the real issue.  Capitalists invest more and more in [...]

Large real wage increases for workers would cap obscene executive remuneration.

Workers around Australia are justifiably angry about Pacific Brands. They are angry that it has sacked 1850 fellow workers. And they are angry that the company’s 13 executives received total pay last year of $15 million – double the year before.  This $15 million is almost exactly the amount we taxpayers have given Pacific Brands. And get this. The company [...]

This is just in from the MEAA, the journalists’ union.  The Australian Building and Construction Commission has turned its coercive powers onto journalists, issuing subpoenas to two publications in an attempt to force journalists to give up notes for their stories on the Westgate Bridge demarcation dispute. See ABCC stoops to bullying tactics against journalists.

Labor sees paid maternity leave as an impediment to keeping women out of the workforce. So they won”t introduce it.

Nationalise Pacific Brands. The company is sacking 1850 staff in Australia and moving production to China and other countries. It makes singlets, jocks, socks, bras and the like. What can the workers there do?  Occupy the factories. Run production themselves. Demand the Rudd ‘Labor’ Government nationalise the company without compensation to protect their jobs.   Sound ridiculous?  

Australia is not and will not be immune from the economic crisis. Canberra won’t be either. For a start Canberra is dependent on the Commonwealth Public Service for much of its employment. In the May Budget it is possible the Rudd Government will take a meat axe to the public service – either directly through [...]

Australia is not immune from the economic crisis. Class struggle in response to the ferment can break out here too.

We have the same class divisions as other countries. Our bourgeoisie and Governments will attempt to shift the burden of the crisis onto workers. That of course is already happening with wage freezes, reduced hours and sackings, and stimulus packages aimed at bolstering profits, and promoting attacks on wages.

Oh dear!  Just as I start to think that maybe my ramblings are getting a wider audience, (and I mention that on this site), along come the most recent readership figures. Maybe karma does exist after all. What can I say? Read, read, read?  Or maybe ‘bag me out’.

There is a battle going on in Brisbane. No, not the phony Queensland election war between the political twins, both vying to show us who is the least incompetent. (By the way, will city people really vote for a not so disguised Country Party?) I am talking about Father Peter Kennedy from St Mary’s Parish [...]