Opinion: Pocock and bosses play ball after wage scrum with PM | Peter Hartcher
Badly handled, this might have been explosive. As it is, it’s contentious, contested, but it’s not going to blow up the government or the parliament. Indeed, by Friday afternoon, there were signs that the government had passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 within reach.Credit:The bill, which the government is determined to pass by the end of next week when the parliament rises for the year, is a big bill, about 250 pages long, with dozens of provisions.
Burke would have to go higher to meet this, but worried that any higher threshold might exclude some of the most important groups supposed to benefit from the new laws – childcare workers, for example, in independent centres with only 20 or 30 employees. But the employer concern is immediately obvious – what about companies caught up in a negotiation but unable to meet the new industry standard that’s agreed in negotiations conducted over their heads?
The employer groups say they actually support rising wages, so long as they rise with productivity. But is multi-employer bargaining the way? There are two answers. About 20 per cent of the workforce is not part of any deal, in industries such as computer games and information and communications technology, and house cleaners. Some companies that are exceptional, usually a leader such as Tata Steel or electronics firm Philips, have unique deals, says Mooren, “but you also have a deal for everybody making bread to follow the rules of a collective deal”.
In Australia, multi-employer bargaining as proposed by the Albanese government gives discretion to the Fair Work Commission to protect a firm from this Darwinian outcome. Says Wright: “There will be legal barriers to prevent companies being ‘roped in’ and if they make the case to the Fair Work Commission that they will be driven out of business, the commission may decide not to apply it to a particular business.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pocock digs in on union veto powers, small business IR protectionsDavid Pocock is demanding extra safeguards for small business, and the removal of a provision enabling a single union to veto multi-employer agreements.
Read more »
Pivotal, independent and no pushover: Pocock treads same path as another independent powerbrokerWhile he wouldn't relish the comparison,at the start of the Albanese government, Senate crossbencher David Pocock finds himself with the sort of pivotal power independent Brian Harradine enjoyed during the early Howard years, writes Michelle Grattan.
Read more »
Why David Pocock is being bombarded with rosesThe independent senator who will determine the fate of the Albanese government’s IR bill is being lobbied day and night by business lobbies and union delegates.
Read more »
Why David Pocock is being bombarded with rosesThe independent senator who will determine the fate of the Albanese government’s IR bill is being lobbied day and night by business lobbies and union delegates.
Read more »
Pocock has just arrived in the Senate, and already he is negotiating with the PMAs Tasmanian senator Brian Harradine did in the 1990s, David Pocock is exercising his muscle and quickly establishing himself as an influential crossbench voice.
Read more »
Love has the son of a Liberal premier pounding the pavement for LaborPrivate equity kingpin Ben Gray, the son of a former Tasmanian Liberal premier, never expected to find himself pounding the pavement of Melbourne’s working-class western suburbs, campaigning for Labor.
Read more »