Contributed
His or her loyalty to an employer is demanded as a condition for
continuing employment. This rarely takes the form of singing the company song
at the start of the day, but it can include accepting that you have to work
through your meal break, start the day earlier than required, or stay longer
without asking for time and a half or time off in lieu.
It means putting up with crap and not pursuing grievances
through the appropriate mechanisms. Not joining the union. Being happy to go
home without pay when there’s no work, and being on call 24-7 when there is.
And the reward?
The continual fear that the company you work for might go into liquidation
or that it will seek to manoeuvre itself into a better market position by
shedding staff.
Bad enough if the job’s no longer there. A bloody disgrace and a
slap in the face when it is, but it’s outsourced or sent off-shore.
This is the prospect facing 50 IT workers employed by the
Brisbane City Council.
This is the Council whose Charter identifies “respect for
people” as one of its values. Yeah sure, as long as you’re not one of its
employees!
It’s bad enough when big corporations like Suncorp outsource
jobs to India, but even worse when it’s done in the name of city governance.
No corner of capitalism can be counted on to show loyalty to the
people when the bottom line is always the almighty dollar.
No comments:
Post a Comment