Morrison accused of ‘hiding work agenda’

Scott Morrison is being accuse­d of hiding his industrial relation­s agenda.

Scott Morrison in Launceston yesterday. Picture: Getty Images

Bill Shorten will pursue two waves of workplace relations policy changes if Labor wins the election but Scott Morrison is being accuse­d of hiding his industrial relation­s agenda, given that the Coal­ition has made no significant workplace policy announce­ments during the campaign.

As well as reversing penalty rate cuts and urging the Fair Work Commission to back an above-inflatio­n increase to 2.3 million minimum-wage and award-­­reliant workers, Labor has a suite of proposals it wants to legislate, including changes to stop employers from “gaming the system”.

It would seek to restrict the ability of employers to terminate enterprise agreements and stop them using a small number of workers to vote up a new deal before applying that to hundreds of employees in another workplace.

Labor also would try to legislate changes to pay equity provisions, a new definition of casual employment, and a “living wage” policy to apply to next year’s minimum wage review by the commission.

It is likely to delay giving ­unions the legal right to pursue multi-employer and industry-wide pay claims by at least a year, citing the complexity involved in rewriting the bargaining rules and the need to implement other parts of its workplace agenda first.

Labor employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor yesterday refused to say whether unions would have the right to take legal strike action in support of industry claims, but stressed that the multi-employer stream would be focused on low-paid industries such as childcare and cleaning, or where enterprise bargaining had failed.

Employers would be given an extended period to comply with the ALP’s proposed new labour-hire laws that would require labour­-hire workers to be paid the same as directly employed workers doing the same work in the same workplace.

Employers have expressed concern at the ALP platform but are critical of the Coalition for a lack of a workplace policy agenda.

The Coalition says it will try to pass a bill that would lower the threshold for courts to deregister a union, permit courts to disqualify union officials if they commit two civil-law breaches, and subject union mergers to a public-interest test. It would press ahead with plans to weaken unions’ financial position by imposing regulatory controls on worker entitlement funds, denying unions an estimated $25 million a year.

Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has given “in principle” support for the recom­mendations of the Migrant Workers’Taskforce, including imposition for the first time of criminal sanctions on employers engaging in “clear, deliberate and systemic” wage theft. Employers have vowed to campaign against the changes if the Coalition is re-elected.