NSW keeps workers’ details from unions

NSW Labor has ruled out adopting the Queensland government’s policy of providing public servants’ contact details to unions.

NSW opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Sophie Cotsis. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

NSW Labor has ruled out adopting the Queensland government’s policy of providing public servants’ contact details to unions, saying membership and retention will be left for individual unions.

Three months out from the state election, NSW Labor denied it would follow the path of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government, who The Australian revealed had provided details for about 242,000 full-time equivalent workers to their relevant unions since 2015.

NSW opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Sophie Cotsis told The Australian: “NSW Labor has no plans to adopt the QLD policy – membership and retention are a matter entirely for individual unions.”

Despite writing to then-industrial relations minister Dominic Perrottet in 2019 questioning what the NSW government’s union encouragement policy was, NSW Public Service Association secretary Stewart Little declined to comment on Labor’s edict.

Queensland Opposition deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie – who served as attorney-general in the Newman government that outlawed the union encouragement policy – said the LNP would only provide such details with “express permission” of bureaucrats.

“The Opposition want to make it abundantly clear – we believe in freedom of association,” Mr Bleijie said.

“We also believe in freedom of choice for the public service. An LNP government would not provide these details to the union movement, without the express permission of the public servant … That is not happening at the moment.”

The Palaszczuk government also revealed that while the contact details of public servants were encrypted when sent to relevant unions, there was not a process to audit or protect the data once they were with the organisations.

“This is a hackers’ paradise,” Mr Bleijie said.

Acting Premier Steven Miles defended the union encouragement policy, saying all public servants had the ability to opt out of having their details shared.

“This is the routine work of our departments that’s been in place since we were elected.

“Public servants have the option of opting out, but really it makes sure … the unions can contact those workers and offer them the opportunity to join. The kind of information provided is the kind of information that would often be available in a directory, or a phone list for an agency, it’s not considered private information.”

But Mr Bleijie questioned whether individual bureaucrats would be bullied if they said they did not want to be part of the union encouragement policy.