Divorce of mega unions ushers in a new era in IR

The Morrison government is seeking to bring the trade union movement into the modern age with a divorce clause for super unions that will allow aggrieved parties to escape the perceived abuses of a wayward partner. The federal government’s proposed legislation does not name any particular union. But there are no prizes for guessing that it will be dispirited factions of the militant Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union that are most likely to make a speedy dash for the exit. As Ewin Hannan reports, Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter will introduce legislation next week to allow breakups to happen. The legislation will present another difficult challenge for Labor’s Anthony Albanese, who was under pressure this week as he struggled to find a unified message on how best to manage relations with the Chinese Communist Party.

Union amalgamation has been a totemic issue for Labor and the trade union movement, and is a key feature of Hawke and Keating era reforms of the late 1980s and early 90s when it took centre stage of industrial activity within the ACTU and its affiliated unions at the time of the Prices and Incomes Accord. In the Accord era, which brought the labour movement closer into economic decision-making, strategic amalgamation was seen as a way for unions to assume a greater responsibility for the economic condition of the nation. For the federal Opposition Leader there is a lot of historical Labor baggage in the creation of mega unions to maximise their ability to leverage power, making it difficult to accept a retreat. On the other hand, the CFMEU’s militant construction division Victorian secretary, John Setka, quickly has been running out of friends.

The proposed legislation is a step back from the union-restricting Ensuring Integrity Bill that was shelved by the Morrison government in May. On that issue, Mr Albanese accused the government of being “obsessed with obliterating collective bargaining, with eroding human dignity and hurting working families by subjecting workplaces to the law of the jungle”. He said “the bottom line, now and throughout Australia’s history, is that the conservative forces just don’t like unions”.

The Ensuring Integrity Bill would have given the Federal Court power to disqualify officials or cancel the registration of organisations where it was considered they did not work in the interests of members, had committed serious offences or had a record of law-breaking. At its heart, the new proposal restores the right of union groups to choose how they associate with others.

Under existing laws, once a super union has been in place for five years it must remain intact. The CFMEU has been in turmoil for many months, illustrated by the resignation of two key officials because of differences with the leadership of the militant Victorian construction wing. Michael O’Connor resigned as CFMEU national secretary last month but remained as the national secretary of the union’s manufacturing division with a pledge to boycott union meetings involving construction and maritime division officials. Last week Tony Maher, general secretary of the mining and energy division, quit as CFMEU national president, accusing the construction division of bullying.

The new bill allows the Fair Work Commission to approve an application for a ballot of members to vote on whether to split after the usual five-year period has elapsed. Mr Porter says he is for the worker and that any decent, hardworking division of an amalgamated union that is dissatisfied with the bigger organisation will be able to leave. Stand-alone unions that choose to break away will be allowed to take their assets and members with them. There still will be a process involving the Fair Work Commission, which must approve any separations. The commission would consider whether the amalgamated organisation had a record of not complying with workplace or safety laws, and any contribution of the constituent part to that record; as well as the likely capacity of the constituent part that forms a new organisation to promote and protect the economic and social interests of its members. Where the FWC determined the organisation had a record of not complying with workplace and safety laws and that record was not due to the division seeking to break away, it must accept the application of the division to hold a ballot to withdraw.

The Weekend Australian agrees with Mr Porter that freedom of association is a fundamental principle of Australia’s industrial laws. This cuts both ways. Just as individuals should not be forced to join a union, unions should not be made to join forces against their wishes. The amalgamation of disparate union groups was always going to be fraught. Mr Porter is right to provide an escape route.