Today two very different events took place in Australia.
One thousand, eight hundred employees of garment manufacturer Pacific Brands learned that they will be unemployed because their firm is moving manufacturing to China.
Pacific Brands is the source of iconic Australian clothing labels such as King Gee, Berlei and Bonds.
In the five years since 2000 the Federal government has injected $ 72 million to prop up local garment manufacturing by Pacific Brands, but the economic recession has proven to be the last straw, making the low wage regime of China irresistible.
Sadly, the demise of the Bellambi unit this July will be followed by the closure of Unanderra in February of next year, leaving two hundred and eighty one Illawarra people out of work - from 1850 people to be retrenched Australia wide.
The vast majority of the Pacific Brands employees are women and they are highly skilled cutters and machinists. There is almost no chance of a similar job utilising these skills in the almost defunct Australian clothing industry.
No doubt the government will offer retraining schemes, but the big question will be - " Retraining for what purpose ? "
It is obvious that this closure announcement is just the tip of an unemployment iceberg ! If there are more people looking for work than jobs offering it is hard to see how retraining can increase job opportunities overall !
At the same time Pacific Brands employees are digesting this bitter news the port of Sydney is welcoming the world's biggest and newest cruise liner , the Queen Mary 2.
This floating palace is on a ninety day world cruise with fares for lucky passengers around the $ 26,000 per person mark.
There are still wealthy people in this country and many have decided that the wise course is to spend some of it - while it still has value !
There are grim times ahead as more of the Australian work force will find out in the months ahead, and many economists are keeping very quiet about the almost certainty that the world will face a huge round of inflation.
The developed countries are going heavily into deficit to try and cushion this recession and in all probability that debt will become beyond their capacity to repay. When that happens, logic dictates that inflation will run out of control, bankrupting those on superannuation and those who put money aside for a rainy day - but increasing taxes and government income - and shrinking the amount owed.
Perhaps those about to be handed a pink slip should indulge themselves with their termination payments - rather than wait to watch it shrink to nothing before their eyes !
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