The IEU's WA branch has leapt right out of the gates to become the first union to seek a single interest multi-employer bargaining authorisation, using the Albanese Government's Secure Jobs changes to compel Catholic school employers to negotiate on behalf of thousands of general and education support workers.
In the first test of new supported bargaining laws, the FWC will hear in mid-August the landmark application to authorise multi-employer negotiations involving 65 employers and 12,000 workers in the early childhood education and care sector.
Three unions have today lodged a landmark application for supported multi-employer bargaining in the early childhood education and care sector, with 65 employers joining the application that covers more than 12,000 workers nationally.
The UWU plans to accelerate multi-employer bargaining in early childhood education and childcare after the Albanese Government's 2023 Budget failed to fund pay increases for the sector.
An industry group is hoping to press ahead with a pioneering multi-employer agreement for heating, ventilation and air conditioning businesses in NSW, after the AMWU provided reassurance that it remains committed to negotiations derailed by a contested union election.
As the FWC prepares for the Secure Jobs's bargaining and industrial action components to start on June 6, it has signalled that it plans to devote a substantial amount of members' time to the new mandatory pre-industrial-action conferences to try to facilitate agreements and will expect a similar commitment from parties.
Global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has taken issue with Adelaide University Professor of Law Andrew Stewart's prediction that the FWC, if takes a strict approach, will approve "very few" bids to negotiate multi-employer deals in the new single-interest bargaining stream.
Law firm Ashurst says the looming multi-employer bargaining laws might explain the results of a survey in which 65% of employers say they intend to initiate agreement negotiations in the next six months.
An IR academic has cautioned against Productivity Commission suggestions that a review of new multi-employer bargaining measures should consider giving the ACCC a role and says he is "surprised" at questions about the public benefit of lifting workers' pay.
The Productivity Commission says a review of the Albanese Government's new multi-employer bargaining measures should consider amending the Competition and Consumer Act so the ACCC can play a role.
