WHY !!!

[Dwayne OMember]

Why is our country so stuffed in the Manufacturing & Industries Sector ??? :angry:
When are our elected politicians both State & Federal going to man up and do their bit to save our country from self destructing and having everyone out of work??? :unsure:
Why do pollies sit on their asses and let businesses both big and small wither away with little or no chance or rebuilding??? :dry:

As you can tell, I have had a shit day at work today :angry: (my job is safe for now , I Hope)
Today we had 8 good people layed off from salaried positions with litle more than half an hours notice to clear their desks and vacate the site, no access to bid any kind of farewell to workmates either :S
A group of these guys have been with the company for a long time ranging from 8 to 30 yrs!!!

Reportedly there are more to go in the coming days that were for other reasons off work today.
Yes, we are on a contract that is beginning to wind down but has approximately another 12 months to go until completion. But today came as a massive shock to all concerned and obviously the rest of the workforce left to ponder their future,,,,,

All we can do is front up each day and wait for the next lot to get tapped I suppose !!!
That is shattering to moral in any workplace I can tell ya, I have seen it all too many times before

Rant Over

[simon burkeMember]

Fair rant eagle
happening in every industry at the moment
hang in there big fella

Bol :woohoo:

[Dwayne OMember]

I hear ya mate :whistle:

It`s just not the Australia we used to know at all,, and getting worse by the week lately :angry:
Sick to death of hearing of jobs disappearing and companies doing it tough.

Outsourcing to O/S has killed this country in too many areas and it`s our kids (and their kids) I feel for
What have they got to look forward to ?????????

[GregMember]

A tough subject and I feel for all all involved. End of contracts are a tough time. Sorry for your day

TB

Oh you forgot the other organisations in Aus responsible for the shit storm we are in that look only after themselves

[Dwayne OMember]

Yeah, tough is right mate…
We have already suffered big losses as a result of the mining slumps and orders suffered ending in an entire section shutting down last year, maintenance contracts are getting thin also and cuts are further inevitable there too.
Our manufacturing section is still waiting for new contracts to be announced (election dramas always seem to be good at holding those off) , but realistically the boat sailed months ago on any hope of carrying on from this one to any new work.

There is roumor that there could be as many as 600 positions to go across the entire group nationally :S (there are a few divisions obviously)

Eags,
signing off and looking for options :whistle:

At least I still have my sick humour :laugh:

[jamieMember]

:angry: I here what your saying Eagle, i work in heavy industry and we are on the short list of large scale manufacturing in australia.

We get threatened/warned/told every other week we have to perform to keep our jobs or more importantly the business going to compete with imports and with a high aussie dollar it makes things worse.

If it’s any comfort i worked in another industry that was going bad for 10 years in the end before take over so i’m glad i didn’t spend that time stressing about it.

Great for moral seeing your work mates given half hour notice (not), reminds me we are just a number in the end, hope it works out Eagle must be hard not to rip in a few sickies just in case though.

Hang in there.

[JohnMember]

We (as a country) are own worst enemy! We want the BEST goods and services money can buy… but we only want to pay Chinese sweat shop prices for those goods and services. The internet has its good but it also has it’s bad side too. Is there anything (other than maybe firearms/explosives etc) that you can’t find on the web, possibly even a chinese knock off of an item that the legitimate manufacturer has spent hundreds of thousands, sometimes more in research to get right… then someone comes in and makes a copy for next to nothing?

Look at who lost the last world war… look at their industry and their economy. Both Japan and Germany are selling top notch gear, which you pay for, but it’s good gear none the less.

It needs more than just Governmental change, it needs societal change, a change in culture from the buying public. Same goes for our farmers being priced out of the markets by big grocery chains for even the simplest of things like milk. Orchardists who get hold of dozer and knock down whole orchards because they can’t compete with importers!?!?!?!?!

I worry about my kids kids… how are they going to get on? If I was married today and had to buy a house I’d struggle to get into the market in Sydney (outside a lower socio economic hub) and that’s just rubbish.

I don’t have any answers… just rants I’m afraid. But I hope all stays well with you, hope you continue to give them the product they want so they won’t want to get rid of you!

[Harold WithingtonMember]

Yep I feel for ya eagle
I’m in an industry that claims there is not enough specialist labour so it gets most of its people on the 457 visa thingy witch I recon is crap because I went from owning a transport business to this industry that is completely different.

We need to be more like the yanks ( cant believe I’m saying this) and be more patriotic to our own country and support our own farmers, engineering firms local shops and the like.

The company I left last year was US owned I wanted to replace some bolts on the unit and went to order some only to be told they have to come out of the states and we aren’t allowed to get them here

We as a family try and do our bit by shopping locally as much as we can ie butchers, local fruit market , local hardware and the like but while you have other bigger organisations in town offering a broader range of items in big flashy shops it makes it harder for the true Aussie battler to to get ahead.

Even here in rockhampton we have some of the best engineering firms in the country and are so close to the mining sector you would think we would have a good slice of the pie but everything seems to be shipped south.

Dunno what the answer is or who the best leader is, may be if we got someone in the big seat that just stopped thinking of them selves and actually put the country first would be a great start

[AlexMember]

Sorry to hear Eags, one of many similar stories I bet. Complicated issue. It won’t be easy to turn the ship around I’m afraid. The change of direction has been slow and steady so much so that the everyday Australian didn’t even notice – only when they lose their job.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Sorry to hear Eag’s

I don’t want to get into a political debate but the anouncement of an election always stops investment. Investment generally also stops towards the end of each calender year and restarts at the start of the following year.

By calling a September election early in the year the governments has pretty much stopped investment in this country for a full year which is adding to the problems.

Mining companies are crying poor because they are only making billions instead of tens of billions and demanding a 20% discount on all services.

Hopefully next year things will pick up again.

[AndrewMember]

Your preaching to the choir here Eags ol’ mate.

At 38 i am making the decision to work away on a 3/1 roster just to keep my job. My branch is officially closing and i have had to let over 25 staff go since Xmas.

The coal industry in Newcastle is shit with commodity prices halved. No one is spending on infrastructure or maintenance, projects are being shelved left, right and centre and the likes of Rio and Xtrata are telling me that nothing is going to change for the foreseeable future.

I hope your future is safe mate.

[Dwayne OMember]

:laugh:
I hear ya`s, hear you both actually !!!
You two are the first ones that came to mind yesterday as I know both of your stories from recent times :whistle:

This is just what I was talking to you about Ace not so long back, and one of the deciding factors in me pulling the pin on the June 2 Day Nav Ride (I had a feeling something was brewing) It just came earlier than expected !!!

The Birthday ride is still locked in and I hope to do a couple more Nav Rides later in the year

Anyway, Thanx for the comments, thanx for the call today Strucky & TB , all is ok for me in the short term

Cheers All

Can one of the mods lock or delete this thread now please ,,, the rant is over and needs no more comment really :laugh:

[SteveMember]

Bad day Eags,sorry to hear that,I will not even start my view on the F$#@* GOV&^%%$
and the way they do shit.
But have heard that the coal industry will pick up soon,because the country that stopped importing our coal sourced there own,but it is an inferior product pushing their pollution levels through or over the acceptable levels,so they will have to come back soon,hopefully boosting our economy again.
I know this from a diesel mechanic who is now out of work from the same shit.sacked from the mines,was on $150k,now labouring for me at $150 A DAY.
Big difference,
toes

[SteveMember]

Put up a post a while ago,another tax,that was a short version of what your saying.
Will post some jokes for you ,try n cheer ya up.

[Author]

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