Mike's Minute: ACC and the work from home legal case

The ACC vs union work from home legal case is a good one and it became even better after the Westpac dispute in Australia last week. 

There are two bits to these sorts of cases. One was the specific, as in what's in a contract, what's the wording, what have you agreed to and what haven't you agreed to. 

Then you've got the moral question; the big picture, the team spirit and the attitude. 

Work from home is a symptom of all that is wrong with productivity and very few do productivity as poorly as this country. 

Covid wrecked the workplace. It allowed for work from home to be invented. 

Not literally, but generally for a period it was all you could do. 

From that moment a seed was planted, and the seed has grown into a mindset. 

Over a remarkably short period of time the idea became a habit, a right and, for some, the norm. 

Not just that, but so entrenched did it become in the minds of some that what was once not even an idea became something to be outraged about if the spectre of it ending was even uttered. 

Even though you have spent the vast majority of your working life going to the office. 

No one jumps on a get-out-of-jail card quicker than a union. 

I don’t know what was, and wasn’t, said at the ACC. But what I do know is work from home has become a gargantuan piss take. 

Don’t get me wrong – you save on the commute, the cost of parking, and you don't have to worry about hoping the bus is on time. 

It all makes sense from a selfish point of view. 

The Australian case even had the woman moving miles from town so she could drop her kid off at the special school they had selected. 

Westpac said that was a lifestyle choice, which unquestionably it was, but tough luck said the court and the woman won. 

So maybe ACC are onto a hiding to nothing. Let's see. 

But specifics aside, work is a quid pro quo and taking the mickey, which is what work from home is now that you aren't locked down, isn't a balanced relationship. 

It’s a material shift, born of necessity, and then abused. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now this acc union work from home legal cases a
good one, and it became even better after the Westpac
dispute in Australia last week. Now there are two bits
to these sort of cases, these specific as in the
what's in a contract, what's the wording? What have you
agreed to? What haven't you agreed to? Then the morals
the big picture, the team spirit, the attitude. Work from
home is a symptom of all that is wrong with productivity,

(00:23):
and very few do productivity as Polly's as this country,
COVID wrecked the workplace. Basically, it allowed for work from
home to be invented, not literally but generally. For a
period it was all you could do. And from that
moment a seed was planted, and the seed was grown
into a mindset. Over a remarkably short period of time,
the idea became a habit became a right, became for

(00:44):
some the norm. Not just that, so entrenched did it
become in the minds of some that what was once
not even an idea became something to be outraged about.
It the specter of an ending was even uttered, even
though you had spent the vast majority of your working
life going to the office no one jumps on a
get out out of jail free card quicker than a union. Now.
I don't know what was or wasn't said at ACC

(01:04):
but what I do know is work from home has
become a gargantuan piss take. Don't get me wrong. I
mean save on the commute, the cost of parking, hopping
out a bus or hoping the buses on time, all
that stuff that makes sense from a selfish point of view.
The Australian case even had the woman moving miles from
town so she could drop her kid off at a
special school that'd selected That said Westpac was the lifestyle choice,
which unquestionably it was. But tough luck, said the court.

(01:27):
The woman won. So maybe ACC are on the hiding
to nothing. Let's see, but specific society work is a
quid pro quo and taking the mickey, which is what
work from home is now that you aren't locked down,
isn't a balanced relationship. It's a material shift bornham necessity
and then abused for more from the mic Asking Breakfast
listen live to news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays,

(01:51):
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