| Toyota Altona workers were on 11 day fortnights. Were the workers at the international factories that their Xmas holiday time was compared to also on 11 day fortnights? If I was doing 11 day fortnights I might want an extended holiday period over Xmas to get reacquainted with my family. It is sad to read so many comments blaming the workers, their union and the quality of the cars. Australia, a country of 24 million people, has more car brands competing for the customers dollar than any other country bar China. "The flood of imports has given Australian car buyers more choice than ever before — and more than every other country on the planet except China. Australia has 64 automotive brands, the US has 38 and the UK has 42." [1] Why? Well Australia has extremely low import tariffs for cars lowering the barrier of entry for foreign car companies to compete. All while the countries from which Australia was buying these cars maintained import tariffs protecting their domestic car industries. So Australia lets everyone import but everyone doesn't let Australia export. Sounds fair. It is sad that politicians dogmatically denied car manufacturers the support of the state while these manufacturers are competing in an international environment where every other country is subsidising and supporting their local car manufacturers. We see a similar ideological approach with Qantas. A lot of the major international airline carriers are de facto supported by the state but in Australia subsidies are a political no-go zone so we leave them to the dogs.... and blame the workers and their unions. I'm as opposed to subsidies as the next man in the long term BUT these industries employ huge numbers of our citizens and foster unique and important skillsets. As a nation Australia should work towards the ideals of removing subsidies and trade barriers but why do we martyr ourselves for the cause while every one else is ignoring them? [1] http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/why-australian-car-ma... |