This is the year the union delegates come knocking
The unions have won greater workplace access for their delegates, as the labour movement struggles to instil old-school industrial conflict into a new generation.
Almost hidden in legislation passed by the federal parliament in the dying days of 2023 were provisions aimed at aiding the union movement’s long-standing strategy to bolster its relevance in Australian workplaces.
With the failure to arrest the decline in union membership and/or to secure employer or employee support for a central role for unions at the workplace, these new rights are about to be imposed by legislative and tribunal fiat. And the danger for business is that the seeds of union militancy, such as is occurring in the current DP World dispute, will be sown in other industries.
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Graeme Watson was formerly the vice president of the Fair Work Commission and a senior adviser to the Morrison government. He is currently strategic counsel at King & Wood Mallesons.
Kirsty Faichen is a partner of law firm Corrs, Chambers Westgarth.
