ABSTRACT

The Australian Council of Trade Union’s Change the Rules campaign from 2017 to 2019 demanded enterprise bargaining be redesigned to fit the modern world of work. Unions argued collective bargaining should not be limited to the outdated framework of the ‘enterprise’. Workers should be able to bargain with the host business in labour hire; with franchisors; with lead businesses in supply chains; and across industries. In this article, we undertake a preliminary analysis of the key issues for consideration in designing multi-employer bargaining in the Australian context. We review the United Workers Union’s experience in whole-of-supply-chain bargaining through its Fresh Food Campaign, and draw upon recent proposals for multi-employer bargaining from the UK Institute of Employment Rights, and the Harvard ‘Clean Slate’ Project in the USA. We examine the shape of worker bargaining units for purposes of multi-employer bargaining; employee support thresholds; the permitted scope of bargaining; and the legal effect of multi-employer agreements. While its precise shape requires much further consideration, the case for implementing this change in Australian labour law is even stronger in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: not only to boost workers’ economic power, but to ensure they have control over the safety of their work.

摘要

澳大利亚工会理事会从 2017 年到 2019 年发起的“改变规则”运动要求重新设计企业谈判以适应现代工作世界。工会认为集体谈判不应局限于过时的“企业”框架。工人应能与东道商讨价还价；与特许人；与供应链中的领先企业合作；和跨行业。在本文中，我们对在澳大利亚背景下设计多雇主谈判时需要考虑的关键问题进行了初步分析。我们回顾了联合工人工会通过其新鲜食品运动在整个供应链谈判中的经验，并借鉴了英国就业权利研究所和哈佛“Clean Slate”项目最近关于多雇主谈判的建议。美国。为了多雇主谈判的目的，我们检查了工人谈判单位的形状；员工支持门槛；允许的议价范围；以及多雇主协议的法律效力。虽然其精确的形状需要进一步考虑，但在 COVID-19 大流行之后，在澳大利亚劳动法中实施这一变化的理由更加充分：不仅是为了提高工人的经济实力，而且是为了确保他们能够控制安全他们的工作。