Business lobby’s U-turn on IR reform

The business lobby that controversially stood with unions in ­support of multi-employer bargaining has told an inquiry it does not support any of the bargaining streams in their current form.

The business lobby that controversially stood with unions in ­support of multi-employer bargaining ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit, pictured, says it does not support any of the multi-employer bargaining streams in their current form. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The business lobby that controversially stood with unions in ­support of multi-employer bargaining ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit has told the inquiry into Labor’s industrial relations bill that it does not support any of the multi-employer bargaining streams in their current form.

Council of Small Business ­Organisations Australia told a Senate committee that all multi-employer bargaining streams needed “further consideration” and that the bill should be split to enable discussions to continue.

“We do not support the proposed framework of bargaining contained in the bill,” its submission says. “Each of the streams require further consideration and modification to achieve effective workplace arrangements.

“We do not support the provisions that result in the agreements in one small business being directly impacted by the actions within another business.”

The small business lobby joined with the Australian Council of Trade Unions ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit in September to call for “new options around collective bargaining” to be looked at, which included multi-employer agreements.

But after a backlash from its members and the business community, COSBOA clarified its position and said it did not “advocate for compulsory sector-wide bargaining” and signed a joint statement this month with other business groups calling for the bill “not to pass parliament” in its ­current form.

As part of its bill, Labor pledged to abolish the Australian Business and Construction Commission, which on Thursday ­revealed it had exceeded its key performance indicators in 2021-22, recovering more than $2.5m in wages and entitlements for more than 4300 construction employees.

A further $5.2m in payments was secured for subcontractors following ABCC intervention and more than $3m in penalties imposed by courts in proceedings brought by the ABCC.

On the government’s IR bill, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson demanded the legislation be split.

He called for Labor to change the definition of a small business from 15 workers to at least 20, pointing to the fact its own act ­defines a small business as one with fewer than 100 employees or an annual turnover of less than $5m.

Mr Billson said in the ASBFEO submission that small businesses needed to be exempt not only from multi-employer bargaining but from arbitration of flexible work requests and provisions limiting fixed-term contracts and removing pay secrecy clauses.

Master Grocers Australia raised issue with the arbitration of flexible work requests – which means an employee could take an employer to the Fair Work Commission if flexible work requests were denied – and said this part of the bill could jeopardise the delivery of fruit and vegetables.

“Many MGA members regularly receive deliveries of perishable items which require cold storage at times which are unilaterally decided by their suppliers,” the submission says. “To ensure those products are promptly received and stored, it is imperative those businesses can reliably employ staff at ­certain times to avoid spoilage and loss.”

COSBOA noted in its submission the government had not considered the many ways in which Covid had impacted small business owners and that the proposed bill would “contribute to the hardship they have been ­experiencing”.

The small business lobby also called for the bill to be reviewed every 12 months to analyse the impact on small businesses.