Kiwis lose jobs, Nats make jokes

21 comments on “Kiwis lose jobs, Nats make jokes ”

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1. Julian 1

   15 November 2012 at 8:51 am

   These Nat pricks make me sick !!!
2. Enough is Enough 2

   15 November 2012 at 9:09 am

   The Government will not be laughing when this country erupts. That group of 410,000 unemployed Kiwi’s is going to grow to half a million by next winter.

   Just look to Europe last night to see what is coming to the streets of New Zealand. The forgotten ones that Natioanl jokes about and ignore are about to rise up and unleash fury on this government. They have been warned. They can change course or bear resposibilty for the violence coming.
   • King Kong 2.1

     15 November 2012 at 9:12 am

     So when your wife does something you disagree with and you beat her, she is responsible for the violence, right?
     • Colonial Viper 2.1.1

       15 November 2012 at 9:14 am

       To be clear: National is the violent vicious husband.
       • felix 2.1.1.1

         15 November 2012 at 9:36 am

         And KK is the neighbour saying she probably deserved it.
     • Enough is Enough 2.1.2

       15 November 2012 at 10:35 am

       What an absurd analogy.

       Your mocking tone is symptomatic of the tory attitude to the workers of this country.

       What do you expect the Kiwi’s who are being oppressed by this government to do. Stand back and quietly wait for the job that Key will never ever deliver. Fuck that. Time to take action. And our oppressed brothers and sisters in the North are showing us what people power looks like.
     • McFlock 2.1.3

       15 November 2012 at 1:48 pm

       If you beat her long enough and she snaps and puts rat poison in your tea, she has a mitigating defence to the murder charge.
3. karol 3

   15 November 2012 at 9:36 am

   Not sure where to put this comment (it maybe is also part of “Too much of stupid”).  But it is about the distortion of facts of jobs disappearing, people working harder, and the Nat-friendly MSM spinning the blame onto public servants’ work ethic.

    
   A Stuff headline this morning:  Public servants take more sick days.

   But reading down the article, the comparison was between official figures for the government public services and a survey by EPMU (as there are no official or systematic stats kept for the private sector).  

   But even more telling are the ministries that have the highest average of worker sick days:

   The number of sick days in the public sector had remained relatively constant during the past three years, despite a stronger emphasis on not coming to work while sick, he said.

   The Social Development Ministry was the sickliest government agency, with an average of 9.2 days off per person across its staff of more than 9000.

   Inland Revenue workers also suffered more than their fair share of illness, with an average of 9.1 days a year.

   The Pacific Island Affairs Ministry, with just 40 staff, took an average of 8.4 sick days per person this year. Social Development Ministry deputy chief executive Marc Warner said the number of sick days had dropped steadily in the past three years. The high number reflected the many staff who were interacting regularly with the public.

   So, what a surprise!  Surely the amount of sick leave reflects badly on the minister responsible?  Something wrong with the pressures exerted on the workers?

   And then there’s this factor, dropped in at the bottom of the article:

   Overall, the number of public servants has dropped by nearly 1400 in the past three years. 

   So the number of sick days is nothing to day with the remaining staff being over-worked then?
4. karol 4

   15 November 2012 at 10:30 am

   And Bryan Gould weighs in with a well-reasoned article on the issue of jobs, unemployment and the economy.

   The object has been to make people compete for the few low-paid jobs available by offering to work for lower and lower wages, so that there is downward pressure on the whole wages structure. There, in a nutshell, is the Government’s strategy for dealing with unemployment – don’t bother about creating more jobs by getting the economy moving again, but force down wages in the hope that people will price themselves back into work.

   Even if this strategy were to work in its own limited terms, lower wages would mean less purchasing power and lower demand. How would this help to get the economy moving?
   • Rogue Trooper 4.1

     15 November 2012 at 10:39 am

     This, and what they reckon over at Kiwipolitico is what’s goin down.
5. Dr Terry 5

   15 November 2012 at 10:56 am

   This is not a true analogy, but making jokes concerning unemployment does put me in mind of Nero playing his harp (or whatever) while Rome was burning.
   • Colonial Viper 5.1

     15 November 2012 at 11:01 am

     Having cocktails in the bar of the Titanic listening to the band as the ship goes down
     • McFlock 5.1.1

       15 November 2012 at 2:02 pm

       “Nearer Hawaii to Thee”, for the sake of the few who hogged the lifeboats.
          
       Their refrain was “women and children harmed first”. 
   • David H 5.2

     15 November 2012 at 4:30 pm

     Nero fiddled while Rome burnt.

     He played the Harp later on.
6. ed 6

   15 November 2012 at 11:38 am

   Parliament is a fucking joke.

   The country is suffering and those arseholes have nothing better to do than make jokes, and still the plebs love him.

   Whats wrong with us?
7. BLiP 7

   15 November 2012 at 11:46 am

   .

   A bit dumb to be quoting Fran O’Sullivan to John Key. Why not ask him: “which of National Ltd™’s statements on employment in the last five years is the most accurate?” . . . and then read out a couple of them for the record. Still, quite fun to hear John Key trump The New Zealand Fox News Herald with The Standard.

   Meanwhile, my neighbour has been looking for work – any work, really – for the last seven months. He gets by. Today he’s off to help with some after-school football training for his son’s under 11s. Gotta see your kids when you can when you’re not living with them. He’s a bit worried about getting “pinged” because he’s on the dole. Someone might nark to WINZ and he’d have to go in and explain himself before they cut off the cash. According to Basher Bennet, he should be queued up outside at 7am outside a supermarket waiting with a thousand others looking for part-time, minimum wage shelf-stacking “opportunities”. Or, what was the other one? Working in a retail outfit that doesn’t even fucking exist. Nice one, Paula. Got your reduction in wages yet, John?
   • Rosie 7.1

     15 November 2012 at 5:33 pm

     Hey BLiP: Those minimum wage shelf stacking “opportunites”? They don’t even exist anymore, they’ve been outsourced. Supermarkets still stock their own shelves but the time they they spend on this task has been reduced drastically as they they expect their supplier to provide a “merchandiser”. Its a way of them passing on a cost. Merchandisers are workers that are hired by the supplier to stack the shelves with the product when the order arrives at the supermarket. Its usually an arrangement not covered by the the standard aspects of an employment agreement. The worker is expected to pay their tax, ACC, sick leave and annual leave out of their hourly rate. Thats the idea but the rate is fairly low and not many workers are familiar with employment admin. They provide their own car and cell phone and get a minimal petrol allowance. Its a casualised and vulnerable workforce that stacks our supermarket shelves.

     I’d love to Paula Bennett spend a month looking for work and see how she likes it. See how she likes the continual rejection, the non responsiveness when you follow up applications and the frustration you feel when you apply for lame jobs that you know you can do blindfold but still can’t get an interview for. Thats just for starters………………..Man, you know, if she was in an ordinary job where she was expected to perform and to work diligently she would have been booted out a long time ago for incompetence, dishonesty and breaching the privacy of her clients.
     • BLiP 7.1.1

       15 November 2012 at 9:00 pm

       .

       Hi Rosie. That’s interesting about the “merchandisers”, thanks, I didn’t know that. Not surprised, though. I don’t know how business gets away with that sort of dirty trick. The trend towards turning employees into sub-contractors has been going on for a while. I blame it on the transition in thinking and language from “personnel” to “human resources” and the concomitant dehumanising of the labour force. As for Basher Bennett – WTF! Her first act as a minister was to pull up the ladder to prevent others following her Training Incentive Allowance pathway. Her abuse of office to pillory those she is charged with protecting yet exhibited the temerity to participate in the political dialogue reflects the general tone of National Ltd­™ towards John Key’s beloved underclass.
8. irascible 8

   15 November 2012 at 1:46 pm

   My daughter, a solo mother, has, after four months of job seeking in Wellington and region, has decided to move back home with us. If she stayed in Wellington she wouldn’t be able to pay rent or meet any other living expenses. She is not bouncing with any enthusiasm about employment opportunities or about Paula Benefits life on Planet Key.
   Meanwhile, despite many years of experience and well recognised expertise in education, I continue to seek work for 2013 only to be regaled with stories about the inefficiencies of Novopay and the issues that swirl around the education system under Ms Parrota.
   Yeah, we continue to believe that on Planet Key we are on track to economic recovery and full employment!!!
9. Michael 9

   15 November 2012 at 1:56 pm

   If Labour’s MP are not interested in “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”, as the evidence strongly suggests is the case, let’s get rid of them, too, and replace them with people who are ready and willing to do the job.
10. Tim G 10

    16 November 2012 at 2:43 am

    “the job market is bouncy like me”?

    I think I’m gonna p-*vomits into his mouth, just a little bit at first, but in a volcanic way that sends rivulets of brownness down his chin, before half-digested food starts cascading out in bigger and bigger lumps*

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