Child Labor
With the industrial relations legislation changes yet to be announced in any detail, John Howard has commenced his war on labor with a drive against apprentices and trainees, setting a new federal-level commission in power over their wages, cutting them out from the awards system. While the commission won’t go into operation straight away, the government will in the meantime set the wages. Tightwad Howard can’t be expected to actually pay fairly, but this will surely allow lots more plumbers to hire school kids and welfare moms for dirt-floor prices. The university drop-out rate is not a valid argument for this move; it’s all about cheap labor in an increasingly struggling economy. But someone’s got to pay for those rising petrol prices, especially if Howard can’t get that rise in the excise he wanted.