Who would have thought. This from the editor of The Monthly, Nick Feik:
The Financial Review and the Australian often talk up the need for workplace reform to boost productivity.
But in today's Fin, columnist Christopher Joye has an altogether different take. Instead of trotting out the usual arguments against unions, he has a suggestion on how their traditional opponents might short-circuit the mutually reinforcing positions. The Liberal Party, he says, should lay off.
"The pitched ideological conflict between labour and capital that both sides of politics and some in the media cling to is yesteryear’s battle. Indeed, with employees increasingly shareholders in the businesses they work for, this distinction is becoming conceptually redundant."
There is little to gain from a fight with the unions, Joye suggests, but much to gain. His arguments have political, strategic and economic merits, too many to summarise here.
So if Tony Abbott, former DLP man, is looking for some positive ideas...
