Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
The Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association (AREEA) has rejected the ACTU’s baseless claims that the Government’s “same job same pay” laws have not delivered the outcomes unions were seeking, warning the argument is now being used to justify pushing the regime far beyond its original purpose.
The comments come as AREEA released its submission to the statutory review of the Closing Loopholes workplace reforms, warning the labour hire laws are already being tested beyond their intended scope and, without strengthened protections for contracting arrangements, risk driving investment and jobs offshore.
The ACTU has used its submission to push for the laws to be broadened to cover additional employment conditions and to narrow the service contractor exemption – changes AREEA says would dramatically expand the regime beyond what Australians were originally told it would do.
AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM said the Albanese Government repeatedly assured the community that its ‘same job same pay’ policy would be limited to arrangements where labour hire was purportedly being used to undermine wage rates in certain workplaces.
“Australians were told these laws were about ensuring labour hire workers doing the same job receive the same pay,” Mr Knott said.
“What unions are now proposing goes far beyond that.
“This is no longer about ‘same job same pay’ for labour hire workers – it’s about the ACTU’s fantasy of creating ‘same employment package for everyone’, with no regard for how major projects and complex multi-employer workplaces actually operate.
“There’s also no acknowledgement that permanent employees often command higher pay, bonuses or incentives because employers are investing in attracting and retaining critical long-term workforce capability.
“This latest campaign appears designed to push wages across entire supply chains to the highest benchmark in a workplace, regardless of the job being performed or the commercial realities of different employers.”
Mr Knott said it was difficult to reconcile union claims that the laws were not working with their own statements about the pay increases already delivered.
“On the one hand unions are celebrating significant wage rises under these laws. On the other hand, they’re claiming the system isn’t working,” he said.
“That argument simply doesn’t stack up.
“The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) has been especially vocal about how successful it has been at driving up wage rates across the black coal industry.”
Mr Knott said the push to broaden the regime ignored the well-established role of specialist contractors across Australia’s resources and energy sector.
“Major LNG, mining and energy projects rely on specialist contractors delivering defined scopes of work such as maintenance, engineering and shutdown services,” he said.
“These are specialist service businesses performing defined work – they are not labour hire providers.
“If unions succeed in collapsing that distinction, the Fair Work Commission will effectively be asked to reshape how entire industries organise and contract work.”
Mr Knott said it was unsurprising the ACTU was pursuing further expansion of workplace laws given its broader industrial agenda.
“It’s hardly surprising that the same peak union organisation recently calling for a 35-hour working week and an extra week of annual leave for all employees has given little thought to the productivity and cost impacts their latest proposals would impose on Australia’s key industries,” he said.
“For the ACTU and its merry band of left-wing academics, there will never be enough regulation or cost imposed on employers.
“Out in the real world, investment capital is highly mobile.
“If Australia becomes a more expensive and inflexible place to deliver major projects, investment will simply flow to other jurisdictions – and the jobs will go with it.”
AREEA said the statutory review should focus on addressing the unintended consequences already emerging under the laws, rather than using the process to push for further expansion of the regime.
“These reforms are still being tested before the Commission and the early cases are already revealing serious issues with how the framework is operating,” Mr Knott said.
“The review should focus on ensuring the laws operate as the Government said they would – not becoming a vehicle for even more extreme union proposals.”
AREEA’s submission to the statutory review has been provided to the Federal Government.
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