Last Friday, 11 November 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Labor Government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill to amend the FairWork Act 2009 with inordinate haste.
If passed in the Senate next week, this flawed Bill will result in the most significant and regressive industrial relations changes in well over a decade.
Leading business groups insist the Bill be rejected in its entirety or have the most contentious sections, including the unjustified expansion of the multi-employer bargaining stream, split off to be examined in a more consultative manner.
The proposed multi-employer bargaining provisions would reduce productivity, investment, and jobs. Further, the proposed widespread expansion in industrial action rights would prove very damaging for businesses and the community.
The biggest red flag within the multi-employer bargaining provisions is the Bill’s new ‘single interest employer authorisation stream’. This new stream is the wrong approach and would force employers and their employees to be made parties to an agreement they have not negotiated. South Australia’s businesses are at risk of being roped into agreements they will have had little or no say in.
This approach would enable unions to reach agreement with a few employers and then extend the agreement to hundreds of other employers. This would damage particularly small businesses who would have costly new conditions and requirements imposed on them for nothing in return. The likely pursuit of such a strategy by unions is entirely predictable.
The Labor Government purports that the passing of this Bill is necessary for wage growth, yet to date has shown no evidence of this. The fact is that wage growth has been steadily increasing since September 2020 due to the strong labour market. Full employment is a far more effective way of driving wage growth than the introduction of legislation that will set us back decades.
With that being the case, why the rush?
We are committed to working with the government to ensure that any changes to Australia’s industrial relations system improve productivity and promote sustainable real wages growth through appropriate and reasonable consultation.
Media Contacts:
Tanya Wilkins, the South Australian Business Chamber, 0481 744 550
Jodie van Deventer, Australian Industry Group, 0427 408 588
Tom Edwards, Motor Trade Association, 0432 581 783
Brian Smedley, South Australian Wine Industry Association Incorporated, 8222 9277
Estha van der Lindern, Master Builders Association of SA Inc, 0404391524
Ian Horne, Australian Hotels Association, 0437 298 258
