cover image: Employee voice and new rights for workplace union

Employee voice and new rights for workplace union

29 Jun 2024

14 It also puts no_ce obliga_ons on the employer and employee regarding the scheduling of training: • the delegate must give the employer at least 5 weeks’ no_ce of the dates, subject maqer and the start and finish _mes of the training; • the delegate must, on request, provide the employer with an outline of the training content; • the employer must advise the workplace delegate as soon as is prac. [...] in the earlier version of the award) is the one that prevails.43 The same concept applies to workplace determina_ons made by the FWC (for example, if the FWC has suspended industrial ac_on and the par_es have not reached an agreement): the delegates’ rights clause in the determina_on must be no less favourable than that in the modern award. [...] Below, we consider the impact of new delegates’ rights in the context of what delegates do in workplaces, the impact on pay, conditions and safety, the question of to what extent, and in what circumstances, do union delegates and unionism promote conflict or cooperation at the workplace, and the impacts they have on grievances and productivity. [...] If the regime raises the ‘floor’ or starting point for bargaining where agreements already provide for paid training leave, this could be to the advantage of employees and the disadvantage of employers; if it lowers the ‘floor’ (the ‘floor’ also becoming the ‘ceiling’), it could be to the disadvantage of employees and the advantage of employers. [...] The question is: how will the legislative paid training rights regime affect the quantity, content and delivery of union training? Put briefly, if the greater availability of paid union training leave increases the number of delegates who are trained at the expense of the content and delivery of union training, there may be no improvement in the overall effectiveness of union education and trainin.
Pages
32
Published in
Australia