COLLECTIVE BARGAINING – AUSTRALIA

ALP open to industry-wide enterprise bargaining

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 5 : 26-Nov-18

The ACTU wants a future federal Labor government to amend workplace laws so that workers can take strike action across entire industries. Currently, protected industrial action is only allowed during enterprise bargaining negotiations with a single employer. Labor’s industrial relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor claims that enterprise bargaining is not delivering decent outcomes for workers, suggesting that he is amenable to union calls for industry-wide bargaining. However, industry groups claim that such a move would spell "disaster" for the Australian economy.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Greens seek to wedge Labor on IR

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Nov-18

Labor has indicated that it would prioritise low-paid workers in any push for industry-wide enterprise bargaining. However, the Greens argue that industry-wide enterprise bargaining should be available to all workers regardless of income or the sector in which they work. The Coalition and business leaders have expressed concern that the ACTU’s proposal for industry-wide enterprise bargaining would see industrial action escalate to the levels of the 1970s.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Westacott pleads for Hawke-era ACTU mindset

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 1-Nov-18

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has rejected the ACTU’s push for industry-wide enterprise bargaining. She says it is unworkable and would disadvantage people in regional areas and unskilled workers. Westacott argues that the nation needs a modern industrial relations system that is based on enterprise or workplace-level bargaining, and underpinned by a universal safety net. However, she has invited the ACTU’s leadership to work with business to ensure that the IR system is appropriate for a modern work environment.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ALP looks to loosen reins on strike action

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Oct-18

Labor is understood to be planning changes to the Fair Work Act to make it easier for workers and unions to undertake sector-wide pay claims. However, to ease employers’ concerns over the prospect of allowing industry-wide industrial action, Labor is believed to be considering giving the Fair Work Commission more powers to stop or cease industrial action where a number of companies are being targeted. University of Adelaide law professor Andrew Stewart says it would seem reasonable to allow industry-wide bargaining in sectors where enterprise bargaining is not easy to access.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, ACTU

Unions lean on Labor to change bargaining laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Oct-18

ACTU secretary Sally McManus says changes to the industrial relations system are needed as it currently favours bosses who steal employees’ wages. McManus has again advocated the need to allow enterprise bargaining at industry level, arguing that there is limited scope for further productivity improvements via negotiations at enterprise level. However, she says it would be a "last resort" for unions to take industrial action in support of industry-level bargaining.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JOHN CURTIN RESEARCH CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Senator wants end to unions’ tax-free status

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 18-Jun-18

Coalition senator Amanda Stoker says unions should no longer be exempt from paying tax, as they have a competitive advantage in business areas where they operate. She adds that about two million workers do not have choice of superannuation fund because they are required to join a union-backed industry fund. Stoker also notes that many workers are also restricted to joining one union, and unions often exploit this monopoly in enterprise bargaining negotiations. Stoker will use her maiden speech in Parliament to advocate reform.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

IR laws a disaster hurting millions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 18-Jun-18

The national secretary of United Voice, Jo Schofield, has called for an overhaul of the industrial relations system, arguing that enterprise bargaining at the workplace level has been a failure and industry-level bargaining should be permitted. She will also tell the Evatt Foundation on 18 June that the industry award system has resulted in wages and conditions being capped for nearly 25 per cent of workers. The ACTU recently proposed industry-wide enterprise bargaining, although the Coalition and employers have warned that it would result in job losses and make businesses less competitive.

CORPORATES
UNITED VOICE, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, EVATT FOUNDATION

ACTU’s new bargaining bid risks industrial chaos

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Apr-18

The Federal Government and business leaders have criticised the ACTU’s push for changes to the Fair Work Act to allow employees and employers to negotiate wages and conditions at the industry level rather than the enterprise level. The ACTU’s six-point plan also includes the right to take protected industrial action at industry level. Workplace Relations Minister Craig Laundy warns that the proposals would see industrial action rise to the levels of the 1970s, while Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says militant unions would be the sole beneficiaries of any such reforms.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Unions to urge ALP to ease anti-strike rules

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Dec-17

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has warned that a landmark High Court ruling will make it more difficult for unions to take protected industrial action. The court ruled that lawful industrial action during enterprise bargaining negotiations is not permissible if previous orders of the Fair Work Commission had been breached during the bargaining process. McManus says Australia’s rules on the right to strike are "complex and onerous", and she argues that reforms are needed to make them consistent with the International Labour Organisation’s standards. The ACTU will lobby the Australian Labor Party to pursue changes to the right-to-strike regime.

CORPORATES
ACTU, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL PTY LTD, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIAN TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX

High Court removes strike protections in landmark ruling

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Dec-17

A landmark ruling of the High Court of Australia has major implications for unions regarding negotiations over enterprise bargaining agreements. The court ruled that unions are not permitted to take protected industrial action while EBA negotiations are underway if the union had previously breached an order of the Fair Work Commission regarding that bargaining. The Australian Workers’ Union had argued that unions are only required to comply with current rather than past orders of the FWC. The ruling could potentially result in the AWU being required to pay significant damages to Esso over strike action at the Longford gas plant in Victoria in 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ESSO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED)