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The education minister said the other day that school children were being fed a diet of literary rubbish and it was time they went back to classic literature. I rarely agree with anything Mr Nelson says, and I am delighted to agree with him (to some extent) for once.
We could all think of great books the kids should be introduced to. I'll start the ball rolling - 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tressell. I was reminded of it today when I heard one of the big business leaders saying that the changes to industrial relations would take Australia 'out of the horse and buggy age'. I think as well as recommending this great work of literature for students, Mr Nelson could recommend it to some of his colleagues like Mr Howard and Mr Andrews, as well as to business leaders.
Next year is the centenary of the book being written. It is a snapshot of what industrial relations was like in the horse and buggy age. A world where there were few, and powerless, trade unions. Where individual agreements between worker and employer were standard. Where there were no unfair dismissal laws and people could be sacked at the drop of a hat. No standard working hours, so people usually worked 6 twelve hour days a week. No holiday pay, sick leave, penalty rates, no holidays, no continuity of employment, no decent wages, no occupational health and safety laws. If you didn't like it you were instantly dismissed. If you were on a starvation wage, and another worker was willing to take less, he was employed and you were dismissed. When you were seen as being too old, you were sacked.
This is the world that a century of hard work by trade unions has gradually changed, to what we have experienced in recent years. The business community, with the government's help, is about to send us back to those horse and buggy days of employers ruling the world. The students should read the book, not just because it is a great literary work, but because it will give them a very good insight into the world in store for them as they leave work. Perhaps one of them will write a new version of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. On second thoughts, not much point in recommending the book to Mr Howard. He has obviously read it and has used it as a manual while writing his new laws.
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