DRAFT POLICY
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
2.
MODERNISING THE SYSTEM
OUR BARGAINING AGENDA
1.
Congress commits to a bargaining agenda which aims to deliver improvements to worker’s
lives and address their key industrial needs, including:
a)
Wage outcomes that, as a minimum, maintain the real value of wages and which
secure a fair share for workers of efficiency gains, productivity growth and improved
profitability;
b)
Improved hours of work;
c)
Increased job security;
d)
Improved conditions for casuals and workers in precarious employment;
e)
Better work, life and family balance;
f)
Equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value for women, visa holders,
indigenous workers, young workers, and workers with a disability;
g)
Greater superannuation entitlements;
h)
Protection and portability of employee entitlements;
i)
Improved delegate’s rights; and
j)
Access to improved leave entitlements.
2.
Congress rejects the notion that productivity means cuts to jobs and workers’ pay, rights
and conditions. Congress notes that such notions, often advocated by employers and the
current Federal Government, do not increase productivity and would decrease our
standard of living. Congress further notes that the real drivers of productivity are, at the
macro level, investment by government and employers in social capital, and physical and
social infrastructure, and, at the enterprise level, development of a management culture
that values the knowledge and input of workers.
3.
Congress affirms the need for adequate resourcing for wage increases achieved through
bargaining for workers in the public sector and publicly funded private sector.
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LIFTING RESTRICTIONS ON AGREEMENT CONTENT
4.
Congress commits to pursue changes to the Fair Work Act to ensure that parties are able
to engage in co-operative and productive relationships that promote social inclusion and
national prosperity through enterprise level collective bargaining.
5.
Congress notes that imposing restrictions on the content of collective agreements is
inconsistent with international obligations and in particular article 4 of the Right to
Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention and article 3 of the Freedom of Association
and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention.
6.
Enterprise bargaining offers workers the capacity to influence arrangements relating to
their employment and the employment of others that can have wider impacts for the
benefit of society as a whole.
7.
Congress is firmly of the view that there is no place in our industrial relations laws for
restrictions on the content of collective agreements.
8.
Workers should be free to make a judgment on the merits of the matters they seek to
protect and the interests they seek to advance when bargaining with their employer. This
assists in accommodating the changing needs and circumstances of different types of
businesses, employment relationships, workers and communities.
9.
In particular, Congress is concerned to ensure collective agreements can cover labour hire
workers who are economically dependent servants and agents of an entity or host
employer with which they have no “employment relationship” for any “matter” to “pertain
to”. At a minimum, agreements should apply to work performed at the workplace rather
than to specific employers in a labour supply chain.
10.
Congress calls for the removal of the requirement that bargaining be restricted to matters
pertaining to the employment relationship in order to ensure that the industrial relations
system is relevant, responsive and fair.
11.
Congress opposes any restrictions on agreement content which prevent workers and
employers from freely agreeing to improve upon the statutory schemes for unfair dismissal
and entry by union representatives.
EFFECTIVE SECTORAL, INDUSTRY AND SUPPLY CHAIN BARGAINING
12.
Congress notes that the Fair Work Act’s primary focus is on enterprise level bargaining and
does not adequately support bargaining across sectors or industries.
13.
Failure to negotiate on a sectoral or industry wide basis limits outcomes of bargaining to
specific enterprises and does not assist with industry-wide improvements including skills
development, training and apprenticeships.
14.
In particular, enterprise bargaining across an industry and/or through and within a supply
chain is more reflective of the modern organisation of industries operating on the basis of
joint production and joint employment. Further, individual agencies in the public sector do
not generally have the powers of an independent enterprise but are subject to Government
policy in relation to bargaining.
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15.
In many industries, enterprise-level bargaining can encourage competition based almost
entirely on the capacity of a single enterprise to undercut industry standards and reduce
labour costs which results in a “race to the bottom” and the exploitation of the most
vulnerable workers rather than competition on the basis of productivity, service or quality.
16.
Congress believes that workers have a right to organize and negotiate their terms and
conditions of employment at the level which achieves the best outcomes for them, which
allows them to bargain with the actual decision-maker for their enterprise, and which is
efficient and delivers consistency in outcomes.
17.
In particular, Congress advocates for law reform to address the joint employment nature of
arrangements between host employer, labour hire provider and worker. The Fair Work Act
should be amended to recognise that both labour hire operator and host employer have a
role in observing workers’ rights and entitlements.
18.
Congress calls for amendments to the Fair Work Act to facilitate and support parties
negotiating arrangements which have industry-wide, sector-wide or supply chain impact.
19.
Congress supports the development of industry based councils which aim to collaboratively
address the key issues facing both employers and employees and develop strategies to
promote and progress the industry.
ADDRESSING INSECURE WORK
20.
Despite strong and sustained economic growth, recent decades have seen a worrying and
dramatic rise of insecure work in Australia.
21.
Congress notes that, today, only about 60% of workers are in full-time or part-time ongoing
employment; the remaining – some four million workers – are engaged as casuals, on
fixed-term contracts, in labour hire, or as independent contractors.
22.
Insecure work means that a large section of the workforce does not share in our national
economic prosperity. They have inferior rights, entitlements and job security to their
counterparts in ongoing employment. It makes it tough for working families to plan for their
future when they cannot rely on regular incomes, yet have rising household costs and are
shouldering increasing household debt.
23.
The rise of insecure work in Australia is the result of a business model that shifts the risks
from the employer to the employee. Congress does not believe a strong, prosperous
economy should come at the expense of quality jobs, respect for workers’ rights, or workers
exercising some control over their working lives.
24.
The Insecure Work in Australia (Inquiry Report) demonstrated that this issue is not confined
to the margins of the Australian labour market. Insecure work can affect any worker – blue
collar, white collar, private sector, public sector. It affects younger and older workers and,
disproportionately, women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and workers from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It affects the high skilled as well as the
low skilled.
25.
Congress will continue its commitment to campaign for improved regulation of the labour
market that provides all workers with a universal set of protections and entitlements and
jobs that workers and their families can rely on, including:
a)
The opportunity to convert insecure work into secure work, including labour hire
employees having the right to convert to the “host” employer;
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b)
Minimum engagement protections;
c)
Fair and predictable pay and hours of work;
d)
A say about how, where, and when they work, and to be consulted about change;
e)
Access to important conditions like annual leave, paid personal leave, overtime,
penalty rates and long service leave;
f)
Protection from unfair dismissal;
g)
Quality skills, training and career opportunities;
h)
Better protections to workers employed indirectly through labour hire and agency
arrangements, including prohibiting these workers from being paid less than a
relevant collective agreement;
i)
Elimination of disguised employment arrangements like sham contracting;
j)
A healthy and safe work environment; and
k)
Measures that empower workers in insecure work to build a working life based on
dignity, respect and fair recognition of their work.
LICENSING OF LABOUR HIRE AGENCIES
26.
Congress notes the substantial growth of labour hire agencies in recent years which
currently constitutes a $19.3 billion industry comprising over 5400 entities. The lack of
effective and proper regulation of the labour hire sector often encourages undercutting
behaviour and exploitation of vulnerable workers. Many labour hire agencies are
insufficiently capitalized and act as little more than conduits by which casual workers are
deployed to a host employer as a means of reducing costs. The engagement of many
labour hire agencies is symptomatic of an increasing shifting of risk from the host employer
to the employee.
27.
Many labour hire agencies ignore the provisions of industrial instruments and applicable
laws by avoiding tax liability, and non-payment or underpayment of return to work
premiums.
28.
Congress supports the establishment of a comprehensive national scheme for the
registration, licensing, accreditation and regulation of labour hire agencies.
29.
Congress notes that this would not be a unique or radical move – throughout the OECD the
UK, Canada, Korea, Japan, Germany, Austria, Spain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal all operate licensing systems or codes of
conduct that protect the rights and entitlements of labour hire employees.
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PREVENTING SHAM ARRANGEMENTS
30.
Congress notes labour hire and sub-contracting arrangements are used by some host or
principal employers to screen themselves from legal responsibility for the people
performing work for them. The layers of contractual obfuscation arising from many labour
hire and sub-contracting arrangements can lead to exploitative practices such as
underpayment, unfair termination and shams for which principals or host can avoid legal
and moral responsibility. Congress supports measures to ensure principal and host
employers cannot avoid responsibility for the people performing work for them through
legal arrangement, including:
a) making principal or host employers responsible for keeping employment records for all
of the workers performing work for them (whether directly employed or not);
b) making principal or host employers responsible for unfair dismissal in relation to all of
the workers performing work for them (whether directly employed or not).
PORTABLE ENTITLEMENTS
31.
Congress affirms that employment mobility and insecure work requires workers
entitlements to be based on the number of years of service in an industry rather than on
the service with an employer.
32.
Congress notes that leave performs an important function as part of the framework of
worker entitlements that:
33.
34.
a)
Helps to maintain a balance between work and private life;
b)
Supports employees wellbeing and maintains healthy workplaces;
c)
Is an incentive to reduce labour turnover; and
d)
Is a means to enable employees to recover their energies and return to work
renewed, refreshed, and re-invigorated.
Congress supports working toward:
a)
The adoption of a nationally uniform minimum standard for long service leave, based
on the highest common denominator;
b)
Access to portable long service leave, based on the new national minimum standard,
for all industries that currently do not have access to industry portable long service
leave; and
c)
Portable access to other forms of leave by all workers.
Congress calls for an inquiry in to the feasibility and options for a national long service
leave standard and the portability of long service and other leave entitlements.
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