Meanwhile, my boss refused to give me a raise because "we don't take inflation into account" and "your coworker was using his phone, and therefore you might be".
Frankly, if they get a payrise for doing fuck-all, I should be getting at least equivalent for busting my arse and producing some of the best results for the company in a decade.
Also, fuck the fact that we don't have legislated consistent payrises. If we legislated wages being directly tied to inflation, life would be much easier.
Hope you're in an industry where you can jump ship after that conversation
If only. Tutoring and sham contractor at that, so God knows how much of my experience will be treated as valid
A lot of people are probably going to jump on the bandwagon and say that it's too much and that they're out of touch - just remember that the CEOs of big companies get millions of dollars per year for significantly less work and managing less stress. While we may not agree that these particular politicians particularly deserve this pay - I don't think it is unreasonable
I'm pretty sure the PM is getting about half the amount the VC at my university gets for a more important more stressful job, there's just the cynicism of people voting to increase their own income (which I'm sure my VC does too). I always feel like politician pay should be based on the median income (like, starting at 80% going up to 250%) adjusted yearly or something. Not much reasoning, just idle thought on that though.
That's always been my take. That way if they want a pay rise just improve things for everyone and they get one
That's a really good way to look at it, should certainly incentivise them to do better for Australians, but they might just go corrupt or take donations
And noting this, if %4 is all it takes to keep you out of the grasp of cronyism and corruption - take it.
But we need national legislated pay rise too because you bet your arse I'll get 1-2% at best each year for a net -20% in relation to inflation over the last 5-10y.
Unfortunately, that's just not how greed works.
If you give a greedy person $100 in the hope they won't take a $200 bribe, they'll have $300.
Usually, they'll then try and manipulate people into giving them even more. "Well of course I took the $200. You guys only offered me $100. What did you expect?".
So you buckle and offer them $300 to not take the $200 dollars. How much does the greedy person end up with? $500 of course.
What comes next? Manipulating the new lowest bidder of course! "Well of course I took the $300. You guys only offered me $200. What did you expect?".
If they can take it all, they'll take it all. If they can squeeze you for more, they'll squeeze you for more.
There is never a point they will say "no, I already have enough". The closest they ever come is concluding "If I take the $100 now, I won't be able to take the $200 later".
Thats why this stuff needs to be properly regulated and fiercely enforced.
Hey you raise some serious points.
My argument is "give them 4% but aggressively stamp out corruption". As long as I get a legislated pay rise too in line with inflation.
Your not going to get rid of cronyism and corruption by the carrot alone though. I see that as a red herring to ease the passage of pay rises like these.
Well the point of adjusting rates is so people's salary aggressively goes backwards and realistically the people at the top should sacrifice the most.
CEOs should probably just be banished though, legality has nothing to do with permissibility. Anyone that keeps those ludicrous salaries becomes a monster.
It is unreasonable for anyone to be earning that amount of money and the fact that others earn more should not be used as a justification. Particularly considering how many additional benefits politicians receive alongside their exorbitant salaries.
If I could augment your argument a little...
The number itself isn't unreasonable. Its the disparity and 'quality of life' differences that yeilds, that i think are the key issues. Such as personal agency in life choices.
The worst parts of poverty are often about the choice constraints imposed.
Meh.
Maybe im just getting old but I dont really give a shit if they get a 4% pay rise. Its under CPI and our pollies dont earn obscene amounts of money compared to the middle/top end of the private sector.
It sucks people here saying they will only get 1-2%, but thats the reason we have unions. If you think you are worth more, fight for it. If you dont get it, find another job that agrees with your self evaluation.
Im not saying that in a trolly way, I mean it. People arent going to jump out and just give you more money, you need to fight for it and that might mean jumping ship.
you know, I really fucking hate how they bait us with photos of the politicians looking manically delighted, I'm positive those expressions weren't in response to a pay rise but implying they were makes them look like absolute ghouls. poor reporting.
