Keen to work, a million lost in the system

The Sydney Morning Herald discovers there are people who are Keen to work, a million lost in the system that does not count them as

The jobless rate would be as high as 14.8 per cent if these hidden unemployed were counted in official statistics.

Instead of the "official" 5.1%. Why should anyone be amazed that the victims of Capitalism are not counted? The victims are not counted in Iraq, in Africa, or anywhere else. Why should Australia be different? If the victims of Capitalism were counted, the number would vastly exceed the 100 million victims of Communism and would ruin the argument that Communism is worse than Capitalism. And you can't allow that for people might start to think that another world is possible.

Business groups and the Government seized on yesterday's figures to press the case for further industrial relations reform and smaller minimum wage rises. The Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, said high minimum wages would cost jobs.

There is a strange economic concept called Supply and Demand. If there is a shortage, the price tends to rise. If there is a surplus, the price tends to drop. If the employment rate was truly 5.1%, then there would be a wages explosion with employers offering benfits like child care, aged parent care, real job training, etc. The competition for employees would drive the price of labour up, but there is no wages explosion. Instead, things are getting tougher. And the employers think this is the time to strip more rights from workers because workers are fearful of losing their jobs as they would be during times of high employment.

In this age of globalisation, the labour market is no longer confined by national boundaries. To calculate the true unemployment rate, you will have to consider the worldwide labour market for industries that allow jobs to be anywhere: call centres, manufacturing, computing, etc. This is the gist of what the Minister is saying - the minimum wage in Australia is high compared to that in India, China, Vietnam, etc.

The Minister is right, we should be thinking globally. Our unions should be global. Our political parties should be global. Our resistance should be global.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!