Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2016, Publicación: 106ª reunión CIT (2017)

Convenio sobre el derecho de sindicación y de negociación colectiva, 1949 (núm. 98) - Australia (Ratificación : 1973)

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Observación

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The Committee notes the observations of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) received on 1 September 2014 and 31 August 2016, concerning issues examined in the present observation and corresponding direct request.

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. Scope of collective bargaining. Fair Work Act. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 172(1) of the Fair Work Act (FWA) provides that an enterprise agreement may be made on matters pertaining to the employment relationship, deductions from wages, and the operation of the agreement, and that sections 186(4), 194 and 470–475 of the FWA exclude from collective bargaining as “unlawful terms” any terms relating to the extension of unfair dismissal benefits to workers not yet employed for the statutory period, the provision of strike pay, the payment of bargaining fees to a trade union, and the creation of a union’s right to entry for compliance purposes more extensive than under the provisions of the FWA. Section 353 of the FWA prohibits the inclusion of a provision allowing for bargaining services fees in collective agreements and prohibits an industrial association, or an officer, or member of an industrial association from demanding payment of such a fee. The Government indicated in this respect that the prohibition on clauses requiring the payment of bargaining services fees in the FWA reflected the fact that such fees did not pertain to the employment relationship.

The Committee notes that the ACTU once again reiterates its concerns with respect to the restrictions in the FWA on the content of agreements. It also notes the Government’s statement that the Productivity Commission undertook an inquiry into the workplace relations framework, and that it is considering the recommendations contained in the Commission’s final report released in December 2015. The Committee notes that the Commission’s report considered submissions from both workers’ and employers’ organizations, and recommended that the FWA be amended to specify that an enterprise agreement may only contain terms about permitted matters. The Committee recalls that, legislation or measures taken unilaterally by the authorities to restrict the scope of negotiable issues are often incompatible with the Convention, and that tripartite discussions for the preparation, on a voluntary basis, of guidelines for collective bargaining are a particularly appropriate method of resolving these difficulties (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 215). The Committee once again requests the Government to review the abovementioned sections of the FWA, in consultation with the social partners, so as to bring them into accordance with the Convention and requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.