“The announcement by Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke at today’s Jobs and Skills Summit that the Government would legislate to enable multi-employer bargaining raises questions for employers concerned at the potential for the opening of a new front for disruptive and costly industrial action, potentially across a sector or broad parts of the economy,” Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.
“There is no detail around either the ACTU’s proposals or the Government’s thinking on how multi-employer bargaining would operate in practice.
“Unknowns include what size businesses would be opened up to the ACTU’s proposal, what sectors of the economy would be covered, how those sectors would be defined and how businesses would be protected if they declined to participate.
“A clear red line for industry is the potential for unions to engage in industrial action in pursuit of multi-party bargaining claims. This has the potential to shut down key parts of our economy in the pursuit of claims. Such a possibility has deeply alarmed industry and must be ruled out.
“If we move down this path, it represents a fundamental shift in how bargaining operates and there needs to be complete transparency around how such a system would work in conjunction with single enterprise bargaining. Enterprise-based bargaining should remain the cornerstone of our workplace relations system to raise productivity, wages and the competitiveness of industry.
“Minister Burke’s intention to remove unnecessary complexity in the bargaining system and improve the ‘Better Off Overall Test’ is most welcome. However, there is a need to carefully consider the detail of how this is achieved. With sensible and balanced reforms, rather than radical changes, the system could readily be revitalised.
“Ai Group looks forward to participating in the consultation process around the range of measures outlined today to ensure that businesses can continue to grow, adapt to our changing economic circumstances and sustainably employ as many Australians as possible,” Mr Willox said.
