“It will be changed so that to be part of an agreement, where you get the majority of the workforce, it is company by company where this is counted. Similarly, for industrial action, similarly for agree a deal.”
“This puts an end to the argument that you’re going to end up with jobs that didn’t want to be part of a deal, but somehow got caught in some way, or didn’t want to be part of the industrial action. If you voted against any of the stages of this business level, you are not part of it.”
Western Australian independent Kate Chaney says multi-employer bargaining should be limited to low-wage sectors. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
WA independent MP Kate Chaney welcomed Burke’s concession as a “sensible move” and said multi-employer bargaining “could work very effectively in these low-paid sectors”, but expressed her concern about expansion to a wider range of jobs and said he would vote. against the bill in its current form.
Chaney told ABC Insiders the government should split the bill so its controversial and non-controversial changes could be negotiated separately.
Burke indicated he was open to allowing a six-month grace period that would allow negotiations between workers and a single company to continue on a new enterprise agreement before the company could be forced to negotiate between employers.
“We’re looking at there being some drafts going back and forth at the moment between us and the company, not in terms of the 12 months, but the six months,” he said.
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Burke added that under the proposed legal changes, “the reality is that single employer agreements will continue to be the primary avenue through which negotiations take place.”
It also foreshadowed a row in the Senate over the definition of a small business, which the bill defines as 15 people but which the Business Council of Australia wants to raise to 100 people.
“I hope it’s going to be a conversation when we get to the Senate … if you’re serious about the cost of living, you’ve got to move wages, regardless of where people work, etc. I’m reluctant [to change the definition of a small business]although I think that conversation is likely to be one that comes out strongly when we get to the senate,” he said.
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