And there is little doubt the AWU’s new unity ticket with multinationals will raise a few eyebrows, not just among the industrial left but with environmental activists.
But the union’s national secretary, Paul Farrow, insists the alliance is driven by real-world pragmatism and a desire to bring more certainty for his members employed across the nation’s $90bn gas industry.
Moreover, the AWU’s bid to tighten the rules on who must be consulted prior to work commencing on an offshore resources project has the backing of its Offshore Alliance partner, the maritime division of the CFMEU, hardly an employer lapdog.
Noting the alliance with employers “might be a surprise to some”, Farrow says: “Our history speaks for itself. We have had plenty of big fights with the players in these industries but when it comes to issues that affect the job security of our members, yes, we are aligned with some of their views.”
The idea that unions, which champion the need for consultation daily, want to wind back the existing regime might also strike observers as odd.
Farrow says the unions believe the companies must still be required to engage in extensive, proper and genuine consultation, especially with traditional owners, about new projects.
But he says the current limits on the existing consultation rules are “so vague that they have the potential to continue indefinitely”, allowing opponents to frustrate and delay projects.
The unions want clear definitions of who is a “relevant person” that must be consulted, and what is a “reasonable period” for consultation. They want the government to abolish the requirement that new information provided by a stakeholder after a consultation has ceased must be considered, claiming this rule “essentially means that a consultation period can never end”.
Farrow is at pains to state that the changes would not sideline or disadvantage First Nations people in future consultations. He says the changes are about giving certainty to the investment process and to his members who face a “nightmare” when there is a question mark over whether a project they are working on will be delayed.
The indications are that the government recognises changes are needed. The alliance between unions and employers makes it more likely they will happen.
ALP ‘straddling a barbed-wire fence’ on energy and cost of living
As Labor’s ability is restricted to offer a cost of living plan that frustrated and volatile voters find acceptable, there’s a real opportunity for Dutton and the Coalition to achieve a historic win.
October 7 spectre will haunt the election of May 3
In the seats where Muslim or Jewish voters form a critical mass (the former more numerous than the latter) the disaffected are revolting against Labor and creating ironic, and even perverse, outcomes.
Like the conservative shop assistants union, the right-wing Australian Workers Union has been lampooned over the years by those on the left for being too close to the bosses.