Business community warns Labor’s IR laws will result in 1970s-style strikes and job chaos

The business community is warning the Albanese Government’s deal with the Senate crossbench to pass Labor’s workplace laws this week will result in a return to the 1970s industrial relations model, with “more strikes and fewer jobs”.

WA rugby union star-turned-independent ACT senator David Pocock agreed to back the workplace legislation overhaul and enshrine multi-employer bargaining.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox the late-night deal would result in an in an industrial relations system “riddled with conflict, complexity and uncertainty”.

“The deal as it stands does not remove the core concerns for industry – that businesses can be dragged into a multi-enterprise bargaining arrangement based on still vague notions of a ‘common interest’; remain subject to the threat and reality of greater industrial action and have no clear pathway to extract themselves from a bargaining system that may not suit their circumstances,” he said.

“The primacy of the enterprise agreement system which has underpinned much of our economic success over the past four decades has now been shattered . . . we now face the prospect of more strikes and fewer jobs.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is now at odds with most major employer groups in the country, insisted the Bill meant stagnant wages should rise.

“Today is a huge day for working people, and the decision by the crossbenchers to back Labor’s Bill — which will guarantee more secure work and better pay — is the right one,” he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

“The (industrial relations) Bill will ensure that there’s a more level playing field.”

Under the deal, Labor agreed to amend the definition of a small businesses that can be excluded from single-interest multi-enterprise bargaining from 15 employees to 20 employees.

It will also be easier for businesses with fewer than 50 employees to opt out of multi-employer bargaining, while the minimum bargaining period will be increased from six to nine months.

In another change to the bill, the Government will receive independent advice on the adequacy of welfare payments — including Jobseeker, parenting and other payments — before every Federal budget.

Senator Pocock, who holds the balance of power in the Senate, said in a statement: “This is now a substantially different Bill to the one introduced in the House of Representatives a month ago.

“It is better for business, better for workers and makes sure the most vulnerable in our community are no longer left behind.”

The business community is warning the Albanese Government’s deal with the Senate crossbench to pass Labor’s workplace laws this week will result in a return to the 1970s industrial relations model, with “more strikes and fewer jobs”.

WA rugby union star-turned-independent ACT senator David Pocock agreed to back the workplace legislation overhaul and enshrine multi-employer bargaining.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox the late-night deal would result in an in an industrial relations system “riddled with conflict, complexity and uncertainty”.

“The deal as it stands does not remove the core concerns for industry – that businesses can be dragged into a multi-enterprise bargaining arrangement based on still vague notions of a ‘common interest’; remain subject to the threat and reality of greater industrial action and have no clear pathway to extract themselves from a bargaining system that may not suit their circumstances,” he said.

“The primacy of the enterprise agreement system which has underpinned much of our economic success over the past four decades has now been shattered . . . we now face the prospect of more strikes and fewer jobs.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is now at odds with most major employer groups in the country, insisted the Bill meant stagnant wages should rise.

“Today is a huge day for working people, and the decision by the crossbenchers to back Labor’s Bill — which will guarantee more secure work and better pay — is the right one,” he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

“The (industrial relations) Bill will ensure that there’s a more level playing field.”

Under the deal, Labor agreed to amend the definition of a small businesses that can be excluded from single-interest multi-enterprise bargaining from 15 employees to 20 employees.

It will also be easier for businesses with fewer than 50 employees to opt out of multi-employer bargaining, while the minimum bargaining period will be increased from six to nine months.

In another change to the bill, the Government will receive independent advice on the adequacy of welfare payments — including Jobseeker, parenting and other payments — before every Federal budget.

Senator Pocock, who holds the balance of power in the Senate, said in a statement: “This is now a substantially different Bill to the one introduced in the House of Representatives a month ago.

“It is better for business, better for workers and makes sure the most vulnerable in our community are no longer left behind.”

The Albanese Government’s relationship with business appears fractured, with groups representing the nation’s large and smaller employers roundly criticising the deal.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Chris Rodwell said his organisation would be in Canberra this to outline the risks to businesses of the new laws.

“Hundreds of businesses told CCIWA they would be damaged by this rushed legislation, which will mean fewer jobs and operations being scaled back,” he said.

While it seems it’s a done deal, the concerns of business remain. It’s important to reinforce that no consensus has been achieved with the business community.

“Businesses will carry a much heavier regulatory burden which inevitably leads to less productive workplaces. It is not a long term recipe for wage growth, it is the opposite.”

WA’s mining giants including Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto have been among the most vocal critics, saying there was no evidence the reforms backed by unions would create real wages growth or boost productivity.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson on Sunday reiterated the group and its members would review the latest changes, while Minerals Council of Australia boss Tania Constable said the amendments “do not go far enough” to address mining sector concerns about the “unintended impact” of the bill.

“The MCA recognises the Government’s accommodation of MCA concerns by adopting the proposal to introduce the concept of ‘reasonably comparable’ into the common interest test and amendments to address the potential for a union veto on putting agreements to a vote of employees,” Ms Constable said.

“The MCA will continue to work with the Government to minimise the potential negative impact of this legislation on the mining industry and the broader economy. There should be no unintended consequences on investment, productivity, economic growth, job security and wages for small or large businesses across Australia.”

Master Builders welcomed the proposed carve out of civil construction from all streams of multi-enterprise bargaining, but remained concerned for various subcontractors within the sector including electricians, plumbers, and metal workers.

“If industries like shipping, transport, warehousing, and logistics are adversely impacted by multi-employer bargaining, then so will building and construction,” CEO Denita Wawn said.

“You can’t build things if the products you need are caught up in a ports strike, can’t be delivered due to transport strikes, can’t be accessed due to logistics strikes or can’t be obtained because of a manufacturing strike.”

Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said there was no evidence multi-employer bargaining would lift wages and carried huge economic risk. “In fact, we remain concerned that this fundamentally flawed Bill could make things much worse,” she said.

Premier Mark McGowan, who last week unequivocally backed the IR bill, on Sunday said “if” the reform increased the wages of the lowest paid, “that’s a good thing”.

“The figures in Australia show that profit share and in particular bonuses for executives are very, very high these days, yet wages have had trouble keeping up,” he said.

Opposition workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said she was disappointed a deal had been struck on the Bill, warning businesses would be unfairly affected by the changes.