Anthony Albanese IR laws to soften union-enforced employer deals on wages

The Albanese Government has been forced to water down its attempt to give unions power to give pay rises to entire industries.

In the face of stiff and growing resistance from business and industry groups, Albanese’s Workplace Minister Tony Burke has allowed employees to decide if they want their workplaces to join blanket deals or opt out of them.

The bill’s most controversial part gives unions power to force employers to negotiate one deal for workers at multiple businesses in low-paid occupations such as hospitality, child care, and cleaning. 

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The Albanese government is trying to pass laws that will affect the wages and conditions of people in the lowest-paid sectors of the economy such as child care (generic picture)

Mr Burke on Sunday made a concession to business, saying a majority of workers under each employer must agree to join the ‘single stream’ of negotiation and if this does not occur businesses will opt out.

The major concern voiced by bosses was that medium-sized businesses would be forced into offering the same pay and conditions as multinationals, although a business has to be over a certain threshold to be included.

This could mean that an owner with a couple of hamburger outlets would have to offer the same deal to workers as McDonald’s. 

Mr Burke also indicated the government was considering a six-month grace period before employers in a sector could be made to be part of a collective agreement. 

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has signalled the bill will be changed to allow employees at each workplace to decide if they join a blanket deal struck by a union

The agreements will be backed by the right to strike as long as certain measures are met. 

The business community has been pushing for a 12-month wait before the bill comes into full effect. 

‘We are considering that there’s some drafts going back and forth at the moment between us and business, not on a 12-month thing, but six months,’ Mr Burke told Sky News on Sunday.

Business have been so opposed to the threat of having blanket union enforced agreements they threatened to run a major publicity campaign against it. 

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a defiant note when asked about the threat of some business groups to run a campaign against the new laws

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a defiant stance while talking to reporters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. 

‘I do note that there’s an issue of credibility if companies are saying we’ve got a whole lot of money to throw at a campaign but we don’t have any money to pay workers better,’ he said.

‘The government that I lead wants to see wages lifted, wants to see living standards improve.’

The opposition claimed Labor’s bill would lead to strikes and job losses.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said wage cases should be just left to independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission.

‘We think that’s the best mechanism to allow those determinations to take place, rather than give more power to the unions and rights of vetoes,’ he said.

‘I get the ideology, Labor’s very much aligned to that, but ultimately in life someone has to pay and that ultimately means the Australian taxpayer will pay… that’s why businesses have been concerned.’

The changes announced to the bill attracted flack from Labor’s side of the political fence.

Senator David Pocock is set to be a pivotal vote in passing the laws and he believes they have been ‘rushed’

Peak union body the ACTU said having each workplace voting on whether to join a collective bargaining effort made the system more complex and more likely to stem wage increases.

A key vote the Albanese Government will rely on to get the laws past the Senate also needs more persuading.

Independent ACT Senator David Pocock, who must be won over to ensure the numbers, said the new amendments did not go far enough. 

He also believed the bill contained too many new laws and it needed to be split in two to allow for a more thorough and detailed working out of what the implications were likely to be. 

Senator Pocock said he did not want to ‘stand in the way’ of low-paid workers getting a pay rise but the bill had been ‘rushed’ and he only saw details of it recently. 

‘It’s a massive omnibus bill that is seeking to do a lot,’ he said.

‘The Senate is there to ensure that bills are adequately scrutinised and that is my primary concern with this bill – the lack of time for scrutiny and consultation.’