With the Greens pledging today to use their power in the Senate to create the "most progressive parliament" Australia has seen, labour law academic Andrew Stewart says there is "every reason" to expect movement on their priority IR issues, such as a four-day working week and reproductive leave.
With the Coalition confirming it is still committed to remaining measures in its Omnibus Bill and Labor pledging to double down on insecure work, labour law academic Andrew Stewart says in a pre-Budget policy analysis that the nation faces a "big choice" on IR regulation.
The Victorian ALP will revive attempts to ensure that all public sector employees can bargain over the same matters, if it is re-elected at the State election on Saturday.
The Greens intend to use their leverage in the Senate to press a future Federal Labor Government to permit industry-wide bargaining, enshrine the right to strike and remove restrictions on agreement content.
Legislation introduced to Parliament today by the Greens would empower the FWC to make "minimum entitlements orders" to bring gig and other "non-standard" workers under the protection of the Fair Work Act.
A Senate inquiry has urged Public Service Minister Michaelia Cash to intervene in the federal public sector bargaining dispute and soften the "intransigent" Coalition's "brutally hard-line" bargaining policy by relaxing the 2% wages cap and removing the prohibition on backpay, but Government senators have flatly rejected the recommendations.
A Turnbull Coalition Government, if returned at the July 2 election, will amend the Fair Work Act to make franchisors and parent entities responsible for their franchisees' and subsidiaries' exploitation of vulnerable workers, while increasing penalties tenfold for employers that underpay such workers and fail to keep proper records.