This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to theechidna.com.au
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
I am always on the side of people getting into brawls with their bosses. It's got me into a lot of trouble over the years but I'd argue it's been good trouble.
And right now, I'm on the side of rugby league players, who are in hot dispute with the National Rugby League (NRL). I backed the cricketers in 2017. There's been dramas in netball and in both the AFL and the AFLW. Always back the players, people. That's the only reason we are snuggling on the couch, providing our passive eyeballs for you to flash advertisements into.
Never forget. The players are the product.
Here's what's happening. Players are negotiating their new collective bargaining agreement which they should because it's eight months overdue. Players want the kinds of entitlements they had before COVID, they want access to and ownership of their own data and they want control over funds allocated to support players who need it, for example, players such as Alex McKinnon, who became a quadriplegic during a game.
These all seem like reasonable demands. Plus the NRL is trying to lengthen the season without consent from players. Oh good. Imagine if suddenly our rosters were changed without notice, our holidays cut short, or, heaven help me, a whole new bunch of meetings just parachuted into our calendars.
Now, I have a problem with the NRL in general, particularly since it's run by chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter V'landys (appointed in 2019). Usually it's the CEO of the NRL but these days it's all V'landys, V'landys, V'landys. He's a bloke who does not appear to me to be all that good at consultation in any way, shape or form. I remember when he summarily got rid of the former NRL's gender advisor for 15 years, Catharine Lumby, who'd been trying to teach league players not to sexually assault women, to try respect instead. No notice, no conversation, just axed her. And boy do they need to engage her again.
Honestly, the National Rugby League makes my hair fall out. Not because anyone is tugging on my overly locks in an unseemly way of dragging me back. It's because they have forgotten the two key elements of running a game. One, the players and two, the audience.
Now, before you refuse to read this Echidna because it's all about sport, let me say this. I doubt there is a household in all of Australia which doesn't have one sporting obsession or another. It might be cricket, it might be AFL, it might be tennis. But across our wide, brown land, we are obsessed.
But some of the organisations which oversee our competitive sports have no idea what they are doing when it comes to the games we love to watch. And yeah, I get the argument that these lads already earn a truckload of money - but their earning capacity is as brief as a set of six. Isn't six years about the average career span?
Yet the NRL is refusing to negotiate with players so the players are doing what we should all do. They have gone on a strike. They won't speak to media on game days (probably better for their concentration, to be honest) and they won't start giving us the benefit of their wisdom (the boys done good, played hard) until both parties have met with a mediator.
What can we do? Maybe we should go on strike too. Don't watch the game until the NRL backs down. The way my teams are going this season, I don't have much need anyhow. Still, I'll hold my head up high and shout, Go the Blues.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Would you like your working conditions to be changed without notice? Should the NRL be working towards more transparency? Do you love rugby league? Will the Blues ever win again? What televised sport do you watch? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The first referrals to federal police, anti-corruption bodies and the public service commission relating to alleged misconduct uncovered in the royal commission's robodebt report began on Mondau, Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed.
- Earnings for the country's top-yielding consultancies have nearly halved in the Labor government's first full financial year in office, dropping below the billion-dollar mark for the first time in four years. The consulting and contracting crackdown across the bureaucracy follow PwC's tax breach scandal.
- Got a Barbie in storage? Vintage Barbie dolls are fetching thousands of dollars online amid a craze surrounding the highly-anticipated blockbuster film this July. Barbie dolls have become a collector's item in the decades of production by toy maker Mattel since the first doll debuted in 1959.
THEY SAID IT: "It certainly is dangerous that there are only a few clubs left in Europe that can afford to pay millions. At the end of the day however, the spectators decide the rates of pay - by watching the games and consuming the goods and services advertised on sports TV programs." - Angela Merkel
YOU SAID IT: I asked you about job vacancies in your area - which businesses urgently need workers? What businesses in your area urgently need workers? Are you a happy city escapee?
David writes: "We're travelling. Gone from North Coast of NSW through Moree, into Queensland then into Northern Territory. Almost without exception, staff working in cafes, roadhouses etc. are from overseas and working their way around Australia. Which is not long-term viable as they move on regularly and fund their trips as they go. Lots of Argentinians. They make good coffee!"
Marilyn writes: "I'm a regional escapee of eight years' duration, coming back to my coastal hometown on the southwest coast of Victoria. Never going back to the capital! This week a shop assistant told me that people just don't want to work because the jobseeker benefit is enough to live on. That's too simplistic and uninformed in my view. There must be more complexity to the issue. Surely employer groups have nutted out the "whys" for the current situation compared to the pre-lockdown status. Cafés still pour hundreds of coffees daily and as a bonus, the Western District has its own fantastic bakers and pastry cooks even if Sundays and Mondays seem to be their day of rest and we find the shelves empty."
Deb writes: "Staff shortages are partly caused by the greed and laziness of business owners. They are not prepared to put time and effort into training staff. When job vacancies used to be advertised in the newspaper, I laughed myself silly once at an ad asking for a junior with at least three years' experience. In other words, a fully trained staff member who would be paid trainee wages. These days we hear all the time about the difficulties faced by mature-aged job-seekers. Why are these people not being snapped up by the businesses so desperately short of staff? Because they don't fit the mould of an 'experienced junior'?"
Richard writes: "What we need to ask is, where are all the people that did the jobs before COVID? My second observation is from my son who has looked at changing jobs since there is such a shortage. He didn't because all the jobs advertised wanted to still pay peanuts and he is not a monkey. If you can't find staff, think about paying them what they are worth. Business 101 tells you no staff equals no profits."
Trevor writes: "Plenty of jobs in all areas of NSW is the necessity to clean all forms of roadside signage. The signage is covered in mould and black dirt and very difficult to see especially when driving at night."
Garry writes: "While undergoing radiotherapy I had to drive 50km there and back each morning and everyday it seemed to me there were fewer businesses and more 'to let' signs going up. And with coffee shops every 500 metres it was hard not to notice which ones had no staff available to open up that day. And some days when I got back to my local bakery I noticed there were no bread products left by 9.30am because they were baking fewer loaves each day to save on having leftovers - and more to the point were able to close after lunchtime so they could save wages and utility costs."
That's the new economy with 80 per cent of shops now closed in our once thriving strip. I'm OK now by the way. Menfolk. Get your health checked - before you find there is no one left to help you."