Wages in Australia and US

[Mr Hardware]

Wow, once again a thread full of misinformation, hearsay and opinion that somehow has become fact.

Australia is not one of the highest taxed nations in the world, it's actually one of the lowest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_around_the_world

The " Trolleyologist's " at shopping centres get paid upwards of $25 an hr.

Of the three people i knew who were trolley boys they were getting minimum wage stuff, like $9-$11/hr. Perhaps the older guy who drives the tractor might be on more, but the 17yo kids sure aren't.

One of the major reasons we don't have good or nice stuff for our money is the massive expanse of australia. If you've got twice the distance between towns compared to other countries, then of course the roads are only going to be half as good....

[TZENU]

Originally Posted by kyro_02

how are they going to pay for this.... thats just crazy..

Give them some more time and they will end up with a debt so large that they will have no way out!

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Any country printing money to survive is heading for trouble..
Soon U.S will have an inflation to pay for this..

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 20 Feb 2011 at 12:23:08 AM GMT is:

14,132,264,902,043.38



The estimated population of the United States is 310,063,379
so each citizen's share of this debt is $45,578.63.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$4.13 billion per day since September 28, 2007!

This cannot continue ....

Funny enough this is 90% of the US GDP. Funny enough Japan has 192% of Japan's GDP and they have the third largest economy in the world and hasn't had growth for a long time.

Then you look at Aus where our debt is under 19% of our GDP.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by dre fgf6

I personally couldn't see the benefit of private health cover. So I pay the extra 1%. the cover you get for that much is hopeless and in the unlikely event I require health care that incurs costs I will wear it.

As for this..


We are the bosses. we collectively hired them. And at the end of the contract we agreed to hire them for we will have an interview process for the next term.. So if your not happy vote for someone else and hope everyone else does the same.

AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA your funny . you have given 2 paragraphs here . and you are with the fairies in both of them . i have a friend with a bad back , needs an operation , workers comp wont cover him , he is now off work on sick leave ( unfit for duty ) for 2 months , not under workers comp , he will have no income when his sick leave runs out , and work wont let him in the gate till he is fixed up and fit . he needs an op , no choice in order to come back to work . the surgeon told him to COFF UP $40,000 or go through his private health fund / versus lie there and suffer . he is in a health fund , $500 excess should see it through + a couple of grand for things that arent covered. ( now you might see the benifits of a health fund )

I'M enjoying this , if your not happy with your govt , vote for someone else , now with electricity bills costing close to $100 p/w . which govt is going to reduce the cost back to $50/pw 2 years ago ? answer ( none and buckleys) whats the alternative - cival protests , ( ever heard of sedition) thats the law in this free country that says , it is against the law to speak agianst any government in power in australia that causes unrest to the general public . that may lead to protests ( which means jail for you and no job ) unemployable, your passport taken away and possessions and assets frozen .
get rid of your wings and come down here with te rest of us aussies .

[gtfpv]

family expenses . average house $500 000 , average mortgage , $300 000 . average combined earnings $150000 pa . income tax about $50000
leaving roughly $2000 net per week . food $350 pw for 4 people , electricity $100pw, union dues $30 pw , car costs say 100pw loan repayments, petrol $120 pw for 2 cars, + 80pw running costs . mortgage 300k at 7% = approx $550 pw + house expenses and upkeep $200 pw public school expenses for 2 kids $100 pw perscription medicines about $40 pw leaving about $330 per week for extras , most people put about $100 of that to extra mortgage repayments leaves about $220 per week for leasure 1 family holiday per year costs around $5k pa . leaves about 100 pw/ to offset for job changes and unexpected cost and savings.
that is what i believe the average aussie lives like , with 2 adults working , - one full time , and one part time . most people sturggle on that , so the full time earner may seek a 2nd job inm order to put the kids in a private school , or keep ontop of inflation .
thats my take . i hope others agree here .

[AU101]

Agree with GTFPV

Private health insurance is a good idea,

I got it 2 yrs ago simply for tax purposes, so I don't have to pay the extra 1% of your yearly wage. It pays for it self + you get the benefits of it.

Got the basic cover which is about $21 a fortnight (NIB) which is $546 a year. Earn 80k a year which id be up for $800 owning to the tax man at tax time.

Never actually used the benefits of private health till last week where I went to the dentist ( first time in 10 yrs)!!! Just had a general check up and clean, Come bill time it was $180, whipped out my NIB card and it was slashed to $90, which I was pretty happy with. Though I was told need my wisdom teeth out so I hope it helps with all that too.

[glavas]

Gtfpv please don't mention union fees. I have taken offense to that. Because no man in his right mind would be in union and im in construction .I believe politics is against the sites terms and conditions..

[ebxr8240]

Ohio XB... Look what you've started... LOL..... Ahah,,,,,

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by glavas

Gtfpv please don't mention union fees. I have taken offense to that. Because no man in his right mind would be in union and im in construction .I believe politics is against the sites terms and conditions..

Not meant to offend mate . But some of us pay for the conditions our unions negotiated . Like sick leave and annual leave and Ohs some others just enjoy the conditions that others pay unions to negotiate these for free. Sorry you Re annoyed that people do so for you to enjoy

[glavas]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

Not meant to offend mate . But some of us pay for the conditions our unions negotiated . Like sick leave and annual leave and Ohs some others just enjoy the conditions that others pay unions to negotiate these for free. Sorry you Re annoyed that people do so for you to enjoy

if i had a problem with a employer i would take it up with them directly not being spineless and going on strike like a little girl because i was told to by the others. look just agree that we think diffrent okay? im far right as it is.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by glavas

if i had a problem with a employer i would take it up with them directly not being spineless and going on strike like a little girl because i was told to by the others. look just agree that we think diffrent okay? im far right as it is.

1st of all glavas . i cant believe you got offended with a union budget in a wages expenditure mockup which was part of a budget that some aussies have to utilise .
you arer a shallow thinker . as i said , next time you take your 4 or 5 weeks annual leave , with 17.5% leave loading , your 10 days sick leave, workers comp injury insurance, lunch break , or do over time at x2 , your 35 or 38 hour week , think about where they all came from , you think these these all came about through employer good will ? every one of those things were a struggle by workers to acheive through unionism . i find it offensive that you probably get all these things without even knowledge that unions brought them in .
have fun negotiating yourself against a multi million $$ company with many many lawyers , i'm sure they'll take your personal issue seriously < sarcasm, i'm sure they will be very amused . but if they have to revert to the law , then those laws were set through unionism , not employer good will
. think before you speak "SISSY" .
i'm sure a determined stare , or threat by you to a company is of massive concern to them . LOL . AND I'M SURE YOUVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS many a time when youve lost conditions or just been sacked . hahahah .

[dre fgf6]

You can always tell which ones are the union monkeys. That said I put it back on the employer- At my last workplace the owner always tried to shaft everyone so the union was very helpful but ultimately asked too much too often and now the company is gone. My current employer is very good, and as a result of that there is union members around anymore.

Gtfpv
As for he long rant at me about going against the government.. Umm I was referring to an election. But I can see from the rest of your posts why you jumped to that conclusion.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by dre fgf6

You can always tell which ones are the union monkeys. That said I put it back on the employer- At my last workplace the owner always tried to shaft everyone so the union was very helpful but ultimately asked too much too often and now the company is gone. My current employer is very good, and as a result of that there is union members around anymore.

Gtgpv
As for he long rant at me about going against the government.. Umm I was referring to an election. But I can see from the rest of your posts why you jumped to that conclusion.

unions are4 there to protect peoples conditions of employment , more so than personal grievence , but they represent that as well.
you must remember where these conditonjs came from and are current , moreso than having a self centered hissy fit at work .
casualisation is one of the things where unions have failed , and look at how well that combo have benifited workers .

[TheSneakiness]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

average combined earnings $150000 pa .

You tell me who has combined earnings of $150k gross pa. If me and my wife were on that we'd be sweet as all hell money wise.

I keep hearing that the average yearly wage is $60k.

Someone give me a job where that happens.

[dre fgf6]

What do you do for work? I work in manfacturing and most of the entry level staff we have will earn around 75k.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by dre fgf6

You can always tell which ones are the union monkeys. That said I put it back on the employer- At my last workplace the owner always tried to shaft everyone so the union was very helpful but ultimately asked too much too often and now the company is gone. My current employer is very good, and as a result of that there is union members around anymore.

Gtfpv
As for he long rant at me about going against the government.. Umm I was referring to an election. But I can see from the rest of your posts why you jumped to that conclusion.

my posts usually have examples and facts , not just my opinion . everyone thinks thier opinion means everything . but without true situations they are just an example of boasting and mean nothing . mean nothing .

[glavas]

gtfpv lets just agree that were diffrent people okay? i dont like unions and you do. i dont vote labor and im guessing you do? lets just enjoy our fords!!!!!!

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Rapid_Axe

You tell me who has combined earnings of $150k gross pa. If me and my wife were on that we'd be sweet as all hell money wise.

I keep hearing that the average yearly wage is $60k.

Someone give me a job where that happens.

i can say that our combined income is quite higher than that , and i live in western sydney , my mortgage is a lot less also ,
aside from that according to my budgets expenditure thay must be the same as my neighbours , so i lowered the income and assumed an average , and upped the mortgage for younger people , and came up with an assumed average , i dont see my neighbours living any worse than i . .
not quoting exact income figures . but some i know are earning more than me , and some less . but witout atleast 100k combined , i dont think any family could live in my western suburbs street , most people here have 2 late model cars . hence the 150k estimate.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by glavas

gtfpv lets just agree that were diffrent people okay? i dont like unions and you do. i dont vote labor and im guessing you do? lets just enjoy our fords!!!!!!

. please glavas . dont jump to conclusions , i have also had gripes with unions and seen people hide behind them , its not a matter of liking them for me . your wrong about my vote . i vote on how i think the country is going , and where it needs change , i have voted for the major 2 parties at different polls at different times , i also vote for others sometimes . i'm not staunch , if a party sends us down , then i dont vote them back in .
i dont want to see this thread closed . i believe wages , expenditure, and living standards are heavily tied to our governments , its a bit hard to keep politics out of it , when we are comparing with US and other countries . its a big maze .
i have witnessed employees starving , that havent been paid for months , and dont have a right to speak , sorry but i cant discuss that here . our country has conditons from struggling , never from good will . today we are living with APATHY . and pretending we are going to be looked after is not the way to look at it .

[dre fgf6]

I think 150 is a fair average, you did say one full time, one part time. My wife and I are both full time so it is higher than this. Much less and I think we would struggle.

[TheSneakiness]

How is it average???

My wife and I have a combined yearly of $90,000. Both full time.

Where the flying eff are these jobs that "average" $150k a year combined?

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by Rapid_Axe

How is it average???

My wife and I have a combined yearly of $90,000. Both full time.

Where the flying eff are these jobs that "average" $150k a year combined?

$100k, I could see that being close to the average :

[Ohio XB]

Originally Posted by FrogInASock

Figures aren't the whole story. Aussies do have higher wages, but stuff costs more here. A base, stock as a rock Falcon retails for around $38,000 on the road. Check out the Ford US website for their prices on an approximately the equivalent.

What does America pay for a loaf of bread (AUS $3.50 for brand name white bread), 2 litres of milk ($3.50, but Coles and Woolworths recently dropped it to $2.00), a Big Mac ($4.50)?

Well, 3 pages now. Sorry to take so long to get back in here. Seems things have heated up pretty well without me, lol.


A name brand loaf of bread is about $2.50 - $3.50 depending on the brand and kind of bread. You can also pay $6 for a loaf of designer bread if you want. Milk is about $2.35 a gallon now. It was up to almost $5 a gallon a year ago. That was exceptionally high. I have never bought a Big Mac so I don't know what they cost. I don't like all that stuff on my burgers, or McDonald's equivalent of a burger.


I am expecting serious inflation due to the Federal Reserve printing up so much money. It isn't really backed by anything and this is why the Aus and Ca dollars are on par with the USD.


The national debt is just plain scary. Obama came up with a budget and he stated that "....half way through this decade it will not add one dime to the debt." Wow, he's talking around 2015 before his proposal doesn't add to the debt anymore, until then it WILL!! Of course I already have zero confidence in him. Actually, I have and am very much against him since I learned about him running for President. That's another topic though, his history, nothing to do with his mixed race.

In the US, though, I can tell Obama to his face I wish he would quit before he destroys this country too far to fix it after he is done. No worries.



For those who do not like unions, here is why they are even still around. It is not purely out of their pursuit to not dissolve into the history books. Also, I am the first to say if the company you work for pays fairly, treats you fairly, and provides a safe work environment then you have no need for a union.


If you work in a shop that averages 90 - 95 degrees F in the summer you would think it would be obvious for the employer to put up some fans to blow the air around to help people from over heating, or at least to keep them from being fined for allowing their workers to work in a place that promotes heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other detrimental health matters. There are some companies who refuse to do this. The workers would have to work in this heat with no relief for 8 to 10 hours a day.

There are some shops where maintenance workers are required to just go into machinery that is still powered up to fix a problem so that production can resume. Men have been killed in these situations when machinery has cycled unexpectedly.

Workers are still given more work than the time they are alloted provides. This leads to hurried movement by the worker which leads to injuries, reduced work quality, and over exertion by the worker which makes it more difficult to perform the required tasks of their job. When they complain about the overload they are fired as a lazy worker not willing to perform the responsibilities of their job. There are thousands more people waiting to do that job.



All that I listed above is how things are at Ford.....in the US anyway......today, not 50 years ago.

The fans we negotiated for in the 1990's. We have had to renegotiate for them, to be maintained or replaced when wore out, a couple more times since then. We have the fans not because Ford wanted to cool off workers, we have fans because we negotiated, give and take, to get them. Otherwise, there would be no fans.

Maintenance workers were getting killed in machinery. The UAW and Ford created a joint safety team. All the safety practices were hashed out together. Now no employee has to worry about being fired (as has happened in the past) for refusing to go into automation that is unsafe to enter. The worker has the final say in when it is safe to go into machinery. He is also trained in how to properly remove all of the energy that the machinery utilizes (electricity, pneumatics, hydraulics, water, gas, and gravity). This program was created and implemented only because the UAW demanded it. It was viewed as a way for maintenance workers to stop getting killed.

Jobs were routinely overloaded. Workers would end up missing days of work on a regular basis because of being too wore out to do their jobs. While I was on the line it seemed as if management could get one person to do the work of 12 they would do it! When that one person dropped dead they could just throw someone else into the position. The UAW and Ford created a time study board to determine how to measure how much work was on a job and to be sure that it could be done in the time alloted. This prevented the workers from having to run a marathon all day long for 10 hours, all week, week after week. A "regular speed" was established and agreed on and that is the pace that work is to be performed in. It is a pace you can keep up for 30 years, which is at least how long you will be doing it.

If Ford provided fans, expected maintenance workers to go into automation only when it was safe to do so, and only gave the workers as much work as can be done in the time alloted (using only these examples as a generalization) then there would be no need for the UAW.

When any of those workers tried to handle their own negative situation with the company, like a man, they were shown the street before the UAW was there to back up that individual by providing a motivation for the company to address his issues. If he was fired for not wanting to do what the company said what did he have to keep from being fired? Nothing. With the UAW there and the workforce united, able to stop production, now the company has to listen to the worker's valid complaint.


In the companies where workers are treated fairly, receive fair compensation, and have a good wrok environment a union is not needed. I would never push for a union in such a situation. You don't need to throw water on a fire that doesn't exist.


For the workers in place that do not treat their workers fairly, do not compensate them fairly, and do not provide a safe work environment, then those workers need some assistance to make things as they should be.



Ok, getting off my soapbox.


Steve

[dre fgf6]

Originally Posted by Rapid_Axe

How is it average???

My wife and I have a combined yearly of $90,000. Both full time.

Where the flying eff are these jobs that "average" $150k a year combined?

That really is very low for a dual income family.

I don't know anything about your personal situation so don't know if other work is available to you, Please don't take this the wrong way but you need to find a new job.

If I only contributed 90k to my familys income we would be bankrupt before the end of the year. To make ends meet on a dual income of 90k is an amazing feat.

As mentioned earlier I am in manufacturing (food), we work 3 days on 4 off and there are plenty of jobs out there that alone pay over 90k.

[Franco Cozzo]

In my family, besides me, Dad is the only breadwinner on $69,000 a year, I'm on just over $20,000.

We sorta live paycheck to paycheck, parents dont have any savings, all goes on food, bills and all the essentials. If Dad lost his job though we'd be screwed.

Of course, we still live fine though, its not like we're poor and need money, we get along fine

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by dre fgf6

That really is very low for a dual income family.

I don't know anything about your personal situation so don't know if other work is available to you, Please don't take this the wrong way but you need to find a new job.

If I only contributed 90k to my familys income we would be bankrupt before the end of the year. To make ends meet on a dual income of 90k is an amazing feat.

As mentioned earlier I am in manufacturing (food), we work 3 days on 4 off and there are plenty of jobs out there that alone pay over 90k.

I am a "overpaid" auto worker who earns $48k a year. Without overtime we struggle paycheck to paycheck. Our wages have really fallen behind in the last three years. We basically have had a $30 raise since 2007. My mind boggles to think there are jobs out there that pay that much a year. In Geelong, the highest paid manufacturing job would be Alcoa, which is $75k a year...........

[dre fgf6]

Thats terrible money. "overpaid at 48k" you guys are getting screwed. I'm in outer eastern melbourne. Last two jobs I've had both over 100k, Been with my current employer for 18 months now. This job is contract based and is 120k per year 36 hours per week (3 x 12 hour 6 to 6)- I do however work N/S so there is a 30% loading. I'm at work now so its not too hard!

Was looking around the other day and spoke to a few people. there are quite a few places around here that pay better. Some do pay alot worse- NONE pay 48k per year.

[TheSneakiness]

For us to get a combined income of 150k as an "average" with the skills we have, we would both have to be employed by the bloody government as public plebs. To even get into those kinda jobs is bloody hard.

I think people need to realise that 150k is not the "average" for a combined family income, 100k would be the average, and don't try to explain otherwise.

[dre fgf6]

150k is average, It's not great, It's not bad. 100k may be an average income to you but it is well below average to me. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who earn WAY more than this and there are the less fortunate who work for less. I changed employers many times until I was satisfied with the money vs the conditions. I have had lower paying jobs that have satisfied me more, I would suggest if money is everything that you look for a new employer or do a course at home to help modify your skills



Money alone will not make you happy
It does allow you to get away from all the things that make you miserable

[efi65]

just read this whole thread and i have a couple of question's what the hell have you got plugged in for your ppower bill to be $100 i scream and jump up and down when the power bill is over $300 a quarter and 150k year combined income might be the average but is no were near the mean wage,