The Gillard Governments by Chris Aulich

Author:Chris Aulich [Aulich, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Campaigns & Elections, Political Science, Political Process, General
ISBN: 9780522864557
Google: yfCRAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing
Published: 2014-02-03T09:31:59+00:00

Industrial Relations

Gillard made much of her, and the Labor Party’s, links to unions. Her government introduced a series of measures to significantly benefit unions and their ability to intervene in the labour market. This is despite the fact that less than 13 per cent of workers in the private sector and 43 per cent of workers in the public sector are union members—in total, 82 per cent of the workforce are not union members at all (ABS 2012). The foundations were laid in the days of the first Rudd government when Gillard, as Minister for Employment, began the demolition of the former Howard government’s industrial relations policy—WorkChoices—the removal of which was argued by the Opposition to be repayment to the union movement for their $65.5 million donation to ALP anti-WorkChoices and general election campaigning to bring down the Howard government (Cormann 2009; Schneiders 2009). Fair Work Australia, under The Fair Work Act 2009, saw the commencement of a new system of industrial relations that was introduced in stages, which replaced WorkChoices. The new system introduced measures that marked a major reversal of deregulation in Australia, taking industrial relations back in many respects to a regulatory environment far more restrictive than under the Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

Among the main features of the Fair Work Act 2009, individual workplace agreements were prohibited, unions were given rights to negotiate and enter premises (even when they have few members at the enterprise), it became much easier to strike and grounds for unfair dismissals increased, as did the number of firms covered by the legislation. The Australian Industry Group listed 157 different areas in which the Fair Work Act between 2009 and 2013 had increased union and employee rights and reduced employers’ rights to manage their workforce (Australian Industry Group 2013). Rather than take heed of business’ concerns, Gillard, if anything, hardened her attitude and supported further restrictions on the flexibility of pay and conditions. For instance, Gillard planned to legislate to prevent the Fair Work Commission, should it ever want to, from modifying penalty rates of pay for weekend and public holiday work. This is an area small businesses, particularly in the retail and restaurant sectors, have identified as a major constraint on employment and profitability (Australian Retailers Association 2012).

Not all employer restrictions arise directly from the Fair Work Act. There were also many other pieces of government regulation or directives that explicitly gave preference to union members over non-unionists and helped union recruitment. These include preference for unionised firms in awarding government contracts and the insistence that aged care facilities must have an approved enterprise agreement to receive government funding, among a myriad of other measures.

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