Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
Statement by Steve Knott AM, AREEA Chief Executive
Today, a Full Federal Court has re-enlivened the issue of significantly expanded powers for workplace delegates under the Fair Work Act.
The separation between the roles and responsibilities of union officials and workplace delegates has been well established and understood by industrial parties since Federation.
Union officials are paid for by union members, and delegates are employed and paid by businesses – with an obligation to be productive members of the workforce.
That distinction underpins productivity, freedom of association and the effective functioning of workplaces across the resources and energy sector.
Today’s decision materially expands the scope of workplace delegate rights. It extends the right of workplace delegates, paid for by employers, to communicate with contractors and labour hire employees working at an enterprise, regardless of whether those workers are union members.
Those workers will have rights extended to engage with workplace delegates on the employer’s time and resources, provided only that they are eligible to be members of that union.
Today’s decision remits the issue of workplace delegates’ rights back to the Fair Work Commission for further consideration, overturning the Commission’s June 2024 delegates’ rights award term.
This outcome has occurred despite strong concerns raised by peak employer organisations, including AREEA, which was an active party to the proceedings. AREEA emphasised that the Commission’s original award term followed extensive consultation and was widely regarded as a balanced and practical implementation of the Albanese Government’s extraordinarily broad new delegates’ rights laws introduced into the Fair Work Act in 2023.
AREEA has consistently opposed the delegates’ rights provisions in the Fair Work Act in both substance and principle.
The laws create unprecedented new powers for unions, risk turning employees into de-facto union organisers, and apply across all workplaces, including non-union sites with no enterprise agreements.
They blur the long-standing distinction between union officials and workplace delegates and create serious risks for productivity and workplace stability.
AREEA will continue to advocate for a fair, workable and balanced framework that recognises the realities of modern workplaces and protects productivity across Australia’s resources and energy sector.
ENDS
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