CURRENT LABOR GOVERNMENT

Assignment: Current Labor Government

Assignment: Current Labor Government

There has been much discussion over the past decade of the movement from collectivism to individualism in industrial relations (IR), both here in Australia and internationally. This paper outlines the attempt by one government, the Western Australian Government, to reverse this trend by reinstating a greater emphasis on collective bargaining. In particular, the analysis will focus on the removal of the Workplace Agreements (WPAs) and the employers' response to this change. It will be seen that employers, in general, have rejected the government's approach, preferring to retain both the high level of managerial control and reduced labour costs achieved under the previous regulatory framework.

Changes to the Regulatory Framework in Western Australia

In 1993 the former WA Coalition Government introduced comprehensive changes to WA's IR system, legislating for a more decentralised and deregulated system and curbing the role of unions and the IR Commission (CCIWA 2002: 36). One of the more radical components of their 1993 IR reforms was the introduction of collective and individual WPAs which were to operate outside of the jurisdiction of the WA Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) and replace the relevant state award. WPAs were to be negotiated directly between employers and employee/s and although the employee/s could nominate a trade union representative as their bargaining agent, this did not usually occur(Bailey 2000: 18). The WPAs were underpinned by the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 which stipulated minimum entitlements for only 10 issues. The government promoted WPAs extensively. WA was the first state in Australia to introduce this type of regime offering an alternative to the traditional collective system. In line with the neo-classical labour market model underpinning the changes, the government argued that the WPAs introduced "the flexibility to operate more competitively and efficiently" (Van Barneveld 2003: 132).

The Coalition Government was replaced in 2001 by the Gallop Labor Government which enacted the Labour Relations Reform Act 2002 (LRRA). The Government sought to temper the market model with(AMMA 2005: 108)

"….a more just and balanced system which will provide a fairer go for all. The Government believes that a cooperative collective approach to labour relations is the most productive and fairest system for employers and employees and their unions… These reforms will provide both greater productivity and business profitability for employers and greater fairness for all employees." (ACIRRT 2002: 25)

Thus a "new era for labour relations for Western Australia" was heralded in which collective bargaining was preferred over individual bargaining. The main changes enacted were as follows:

the promotion of collective labour relations via

renewed emphasis on awards with a program to modernise awards and provision to extend existing awards to cover award free employees;

the introduction of Good Faith Bargaining requirements including the provision for an arbitrated outcome in the form of an Enterprise Order by the WAIRC when bargaining breaks down;

the reinstatement of union rights

the repeal of anti-union clauses including the requirement for secret ballots prior to taking industrial action and the restrictions on unions' political expenditure;

improved right of entry provisions;

the ...