Employer urge Labor MPs to reject industrial relations bill

Tony Burke says he’s surprised to get a letter from employers ‘asking me to vote against my own bill’.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Employers have ramped up their opposition to the federal gov­ernment’s industrial relations changes, with 10 organisations jointly urging federal MPs and senators to oppose Labor’s Closing Loopholes Bill.

In a letter to federal parliamentarians on Monday, employer groups, including the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Industry Group, said the changes would shut down small businesses, reduce the take home pay of casual workers, and drive up the cost of living and cost of housing.

They said the bill’s regulatory impact statement was fundamentally flawed, and the real scope of the bill could not be determined as “hundreds of key decisions are left to regulations, the Fair Work Commission, yet to be determined codes or the unilateral power of the minister”.

Declaring the business community was united in its view that the bill was unworkable and could not be fixed with amendments, the groups said if the government believed there were loopholes that needed fixing, it “must be open and transparent about the problems it aims to solve”.

They said the government should work with all parties in a public way to find solutions, and undertake a thorough and independent impact analysis for workers and businesses of any proposed changes.

“To be clear, the parliament should not entertain consideration of the bill in the absence of these steps,” they said. “Further, the government must not attempt to undermine the already inadequate consultation process by putting the bill before the Senate this year.”

Hitting back at the criticism, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said he was “surprised to receive a letter from these groups asking me to vote against my own bill”.

“I do believe it’s disingenuous for any organisation to claim the government hasn’t been open and transparent about the problems we’re seeking to solve,” he said. “All year, including in meetings organised by some of these organisations, I have explained the problems caused by wage theft, the need for casuals to have a choice, the unfairness of the ­labour hire loophole and the unacceptable situation where gig workers have no minimum standards at all.”

It comes as the Fair Work Ombudsman has secured $558,190 in penalties in a case involving Hong Kong-owned company Winit deliberately and systematically underpaying migrant employees working in Sydney.

Over five years, Winit, which provides warehousing and distribution services, underpaid nearly 400 employees more than $3.6m.