Article

Journal of Industrial Relations

0(0) 1–21
Unions and collective ! Australian Labour and
Employment Relations Association

bargaining in Australia (ALERA) 2018

SAGE Publications Ltd,

in 2017 Los Angeles, London, New Delhi,

Singapore and Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/0022185618759135
journals.sagepub.com/home/jir
Peter Gahan and Andreas Pekarek
University of Melbourne, Australia

Daniel Nicholson
Cardiff Business School, United Kingdom

Abstract
In 2017, Australian unions faced ongoing membership decline and new institutional
constraints, but emerged reinvigorated from a change in leadership and a policy
re-set. Many unions faced a hostile environment for bargaining, with protracted nego-
tiations in key sectors, attended by robust industrial action at times. The decline in
union members and collective agreements reached a crisis point. A surprisingly diverse
collection of individuals expressed concerns that the system of enterprise bargaining
was not producing outcomes that were fair or economically sustainable, with some
questioning whether the system had created the level playing field its architects had
envisioned, as well expressing growing unease that reforms intended to constrain
unions were undermining the original objective of the legislation. Heading into 2018,
unions and the Australian Council of Trade Unions were seeking a political and legis-
lative solution to the seemingly entrenched industrial difficulties they face, campaigning
around the theme ‘change the rules’. Without significant change in the system, it is
difficult to see that the coming years will see any change to these dominant patterns.

Keywords
Collective bargaining, enterprise agreements, Fair Work Act, frames, industrial
disputes, union membership, unions, wages

Introduction
For many industrial relations (IR) actors, 2017 was the year in which the decline in
union members and collective bargaining (CB) reached a crisis point – just a couple

Corresponding author:
Peter Gahan, Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Melbourne, L10, 198 Berkeley
Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Email: pgahan@unimelb.edu.au
2 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

of years after the Productivity Commission’s review of the Fair Work Act con-
cluded that the enterprise bargaining system was ‘generally working well’
(Productivity Commission, 2015). A surprisingly diverse collection of individuals
also expressed concerns that the system of CB was not producing outcomes that
were fair or economically sustainable. Some actors also questioned whether the
system had created the level playing field its architects had envisioned, as well
expressing growing unease that reforms intended to constrain unions were under-
mining the original objective of the Fair Work Act to promote bargaining. All of
this occurred in a climate where many unions faced strong opposition to recogni-
tion and a robust bargaining environment, with ongoing hostilities between major
employers and unions in key sectors. By year’s end, however, the prospect that the
next election may produce a change of government saw the emergence of debate
around legislative reform intended to correct these problems with the current
system.

Where have all the union members gone?

In 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) commenced a new data series on
union membership, reporting union membership data biennially. Whilst the differ-
ent methodology it employs makes longer-term assessment of trends more challen-
ging, the news is not good for unions: few unions have managed to stem the decline
in membership, and none has managed to organise sufficient members to maintain
density levels in a growing economy. As we report in the following, this means that
the rate of decline in union density has been significant, and there are few signs that
this trend is slowing. In some industries and for some categories of workers the rate
of decline has accelerated. If this rate of membership decline continues, by the end
of the next decade unions will represent just a few percent of the Australian work-
force, with most membership concentrated in fewer industries. It is highly likely
that some unions will cease to exist, or merge with other unions to survive.
The most recent ABS release estimates that, in August 2016, approximately 1.56
million Australians were members of a union in their main job – or 13.2% of all
employed persons (ABS, 2017a). This is down from 1.68 million just 2 years earlier.
This is 137,000 fewer members than in August 2014 – a decline of 8.1%. In some
industries, unions have managed to increase membership: in public administration
and safety, membership grew by 13,200 members in the 2-year period to August
2016 (an increase of 6%); by around 9900 members in financial and insurance
services (32.2%); and by 7600 members in mining (27%). More modest increases
in membership were recorded in wholesale (4400 members or 31.9%); health care
and social assistance (5500 members or 1.8%); arts and recreation services (3500
members or 24.3%); and accommodation and food services (1200 members or
6.6%).
Few industries reported a growth in union density over this period. Overall,
union density fell from 13.8% in 2014 to 13.2% in 2016. Whilst union density
among women has remained stable, since August 2014 it has fallen by almost
Gahan et al. 3

2 percentage points among men – from 13.9% to 12%. Unsurprisingly, union

density is higher among employees (16.6%) than owner managers working in
incorporated enterprises (1.1%) and unincorporated enterprises (1.2%). Union
membership is also higher among public sector (38.5%) than private sector
employees (10.4%), full-time (15.9%) than part-time employees (11.6%), females
(14.7%) than males (12.0%), prime age workers than younger workers, and indi-
viduals born in Australia (14.2%) than workers born overseas (10.9%).
Long-run comparison of union membership can be made for individuals working
as either an employee in a private or public sector organisation and owner managers
of incorporated enterprises (OMIEs).1 Changes in union density rates over the last

Professional, scienfic and technical services

Informaon media and telecommunicaons
Electricity, gas, water and waste services

Rental, hiring and real estate services

Administrave and support services

Transport, postal and warehousing
Accommodaon and food services

Health care and social assistance

Public administraon and safety
Financial and insurance services
Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Arts and recreaon services

Educaon and training
Wholesale trade
Manufacturing

Other services
Construcon

Retail trade
Mining

Total
15

–5

–15

–25

–35

–45

–55

–65
2007-11 2012-16 2007-2016
–75

Figure 1. Change in trade union density (percent), by industry, 2007–2016.

Source: ABS (2013, 2017a).
Note: Estimates for 2016 are derived from a different series using a different methodology for data collection
and estimation of union membership from that used to derive estimates for 2006 and 2011. Estimates are for
individuals working for a public or private employer as an employee and OMIEs. Individuals working as owner-
managers in unincorporated enterprises (OMUEs) are excluded from these estimates. For details of the
changes to how the ABS collected data used to derive union membership data, see ABS (2012).
4 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

decade for this group are reported in Figure 1. This figure reveals a precipitous decline
in membership over the 5-year period to August 2016. Whilst some unions managed
growth in the first 5 years of this decade, declines sustained during the second 5-year
period meant that union density declined in all industries over this period.
What explains this high level of attrition? Decline was concentrated among men
(30.8%), private sector workers (26.9%) and full-time employees (27%).
Geographically, declines were greatest in Western Australia (WA) (38.5%),
Victoria (31.2%) and Queensland (25.9%). The industries experiencing the most
precipitous decline in members over the last 10 years include agriculture, forestry
and fishing (31.2% and 70.3% decline over the 5- and 10-year period, respectively,
to August 2016), accommodation and food services (32.1% and 67.7%), wholesale
(24.6% and 58.1%) and retail trade (31.2% and 67.7%) and the Overall, six sectors
saw density rates fall by at least one-quarter over the last 5-year period, and 12 of
the 19 industry sectors witnessed a decline in density of at least one-third over the
10-year period to August 2016. This dramatic decline has fuelled a growing concern
over whether the Fair Work Act provides adequate support for collective repre-
sentation, and helps to explain similar trends in CB coverage we report in the
following.

Industrial disputes
In the year to June 2017, the ABS (2017b) reported there were 200 industrial
disputes – significantly fewer than the previous year (285 disputes) and below
the average for the previous decade (230 disputes per year). These 200 dis-
putes involved 137,800 working days lost (WDL), which was significantly higher
than reported for the same period last year (106,400 WDL in the year to June
2016), indicating that whilst industrial action appeared to be less frequent, disputes
have on average been longer or involved larger groups of workers. The data show
both these things to be evident: on average, industrial disputes lasted for 1.9 days
(compared with 1.28 days in the previous 12-month period) and, also on average,
involved 490 workers (compared with 316 workers in the previous 12-month
period).
Queensland and Victoria were the industrial hotspots in 2017, with these two
states accounting for almost three-quarters (74.4%) of all WDL in the year to June
2017 (47,400 WDL in Queensland and 55,100 WDL in Victoria). In the case of
Victoria, this represented a significant increase in WDL for the previous year to
June 2016 – up from 26,000 WDL. In New South Wales (NSW), there was also a
significant uplift in WDL: from 14,300 WDL in the year to June 2016 to 25,700
WDL in the year to June 2017. Queensland and Victoria also recorded the highest
number of WDL per 1000 employees, 22.3 and 19.7 days, respectively. This was
followed by NSW (7.5 days) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (3.6 days),
WA (2.8 days), Northern Territory (NT) (2.7 days), Tasmania (1.7 days) and South
Australia (SA) (1.2 days). Construction accounted for just over one-third of all
WDL over the year to June 2017 (38.3%), down from 50.4% of all WDL in the
Gahan et al. 5

year to June 2016. Compared with the previous year, manufacturing and mining
accounted for a growing proportion of WDL, 20.3 and 12.3%, respectively.
It is useful to understand the current patterns of industrial disputation in a
historical context. Figure 2 reports annual data on industrial disputes for the
period from 1985 to 2017. Three things are clear from this figure. First, the
period since 1985 to the mid-1990s was one in which union militancy declined
from the higher levels that were evident prior to the Prices and Incomes Accord
– see Chapman (1998) for an analysis of this period. Second, the impact of the
Work Choices reforms on industrial disputation is clearly evident – falling from
717 disputes in 2005 to just 144 in 2016. Third, the pattern of industrial acquies-
cence initiated by Work Choices has remained largely unaltered following the
passage of the Fair Work Act in 2009, despite the stronger protections for bar-
gaining and unions (Pekarek et al., 2017). Whilst short-lived, it is arguable that the
Work Choices reforms have had a lasting impact on the capacity of unions to
mobilise workers in industrial campaigns. This may also reflect the cumbersome
process under the current legislation required to initiate industrial action as part of
agreement-making (Coulthard, 2012). With the exception of a few sectors (e.g.
mining, construction, manufacturing), union militancy now appears to be an infre-
quent occurrence. Whatever its consequences, the Fair Work reforms do not
appear to have provided unions with the necessary support required to organise
or bargain effectively.

2000
1800
1600
Industrail disputes occurred
(year ending June quarter)

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Number of disputes Employees involved (1000s) Working days lost (1000s)

Figure 2. Industrial disputes: total number, workers involved and working days lost,
1985–2017.
Source: ABS (2017b).
Note: Figures are for all disputes that occurred during the year ending in the June quarter for each year.
6 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

Wages and collective bargaining coverage

Since 2012, wages growth has been below the long-running average growth rate of
3.3%. This trend continued in 2017. In the year to September 2017, the Wage Price
Index (WPI) rose just 2% (ABS, 2017c). This compares with an increase of 2.3%
and 1.9% over the same periods for 2015 and 2016, respectively. This nominal
increase in the WPI translates to modest real wage gains after inflation. The 2%
WPI increase for the year to September 2017 compares with an increase in the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) of just 1.8%. In an analysis of WPI movements at the
job level, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) researchers found that, since 2012,
smaller average annual wage increases account for more than two-thirds of the
declining rate of change in the WPI (Bishop and Cassidy, 2017). On average, wage
increases have also been less frequent, due to factors including employer-initiated
wage freezes, new agreements with less frequent wage adjustments, as well as longer
delays in renegotiating existing agreements (Bishop and Cassidy, 2017). The RBA
(2017) has noted that this period of low wage growth also coincides with the rise of
underemployment, which has been associated with two developments: a weakening
of the nexus between the unemployment rate and wages growth; and a propensity
for workers to trade-off wage demands for increases in working hours.
Underemployment is also likely to influence the capacity of unions to prosecute
wage demands in CB (see Oliver and Yu, 2018).
The low rate of real wage growth has caused growing consternation among policy
makers and IR actors alike. In a June speech, RBA Governor Phillip Lowe high-
lighted low wage growth as a constraint on future growth, and urged Australian
workers to demand a pay rise. ‘If that were to happen,’ he said, ‘it would be a
good thing’ (Lowe, 2017a). Lowe later reiterated that larger and more frequent
wage increases would be desirable (Lowe, 2017b). He further noted that low wage
growth in part reflected the slowdown associated with the end of the mining boom,
concerns over the implications of automation and pressures from globalisation. In his
view, this has dampened expectations for both workers and firms. For workers, this
has raised concerns over job security and moderated a willingness to demand a higher
wage. On the business side, this translates into businesses ‘not bidding up wages in the
way they might once have’ due to cost concerns (Lowe, 2017b).
For both unions and the Labor opposition, the problem of low wage growth is
seen as a product of the enterprise bargaining system. Australian Council of Trade
Unions (ACTU) Secretary Sally McManus said the framework for bargaining was ‘a
joke’, and called for extensive changes to enable industry-wide bargaining or bar-
gaining across businesses connected through supply chains arrangements, as well as
provision for the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to determine a living wage rather
than the current minimum wage (Schneiders, 2017). In a speech in August, oppos-
ition spokesperson on workplace relations and employment Brendan O’Connor
blamed declining union membership and the collapse in CB as the main culprits
for low wage growth (O’Connor, 2017). In later comments, he identified ‘sham’ non-
union agreements as a further mechanism in play. These sham agreements, he
Gahan et al. 7

claimed, involve small groups of workers being asked to sign (non-union) enterprise
agreements (EAs) with significantly reduced conditions of employment, which are
then used to employ larger groups of workers (Patty, 2017a). Labour has indicated it
will look to introduce further reforms to their Fair Work bargaining framework to
prevent such arrangements undermining labour standards. This announcement was
welcomed by the ACTU, especially following decisions by the FWC to allow such
practices to occur. However, since Labor’s announcement, the Federal Court has
shown a willingness to overturn agreements deemed not the result of genuine pro-
cesses involving affected employees.
Outgoing ACTU President Ged Kearney also highlighted the growing incidence
of agreement terminations initiated by employers – a trend we reported on last year –
suggesting that this was ‘converting the bargaining system into a tool to cut pay and
living standards’ (Jericho, 2017). However, in a submission to a Senate Inquiry into
corporate avoidance of legislative responsibilities under the Fair Work Act, The
Department of Employment (DoE) (2017a) noted that more recent terminations
had been associated with smaller agreements, so did not present a major problem.
Nonetheless, there were several prominent examples of employers seeking or win-
ning terminations to gain leverage in disputes, including dairy giant Parmalat and
Murdoch University. There has also been unease with the number of finalised agree-
ments withdrawn by the parties from the approval process. This disquiet revolved
around whether the process for finalising them has met the strict technical require-
ments of the Act (Marin-Guzmin, 2017a). The FWC reported that approximately
200 agreements had been withdrawn and a total of 325 agreements had been identi-
fied over the first 6 months of 2017 as non-compliant, with the FWC withholding
approval of a further 76 agreements (covering 7500 workers) pending passage of
legislation to address this issue. At the time of writing, these legislative reforms had
yet to pass through the Senate.
Wage movements were higher in workplaces covered by EAs than in the econ-
omy generally. In its quarterly report on trends in bargaining, the DoE (2017b)
estimates that federally registered EAs current at the end of June 2017 provided for
an average annualised wage increase of 3.1% – slightly down from the same period
last year. The DoE further estimates that these EAs cover 30.2% of all Australian
employees. These data also show that average annualised increases were higher in
union-covered EAs (3.1%) than non-union EAs (2.7%). Again, this perhaps high-
lights one further cause of slower wages growth as non-union EAs have increased
as a proportion of all EAs approved over the last several years.
Low wage growth is also likely to be reinforced by the decision to cut penalty
rates across several service industries. In February the FWC conducted a review of
penalty rates, cutting them in seven awards covering retail, hospitality and pharma-
ceutical industries (Anderson, 2017). Unions and the Australian Labor Party
(ALP) claimed the decision would mean a pay cut for up to 700,000 workers.
The Federal Court upheld the FWC’s decision in October (Knaus, 2017).
Restoration of penalty rates has become a political issue, with the ALP promising
to overturn the FWC’s decision if returned to government (Anderson, 2017).
8 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

26000
24000
22000
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000 R² = 0.9026
0
Dec-91
Dec-92
Dec-93
Dec-94
Dec-95
Dec-96
Dec-97
Dec-98
Dec-99
Dec-00
Dec-01
Dec-02
Dec-03
Dec-04
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-07
Dec-08
Dec-09
Dec-10
Dec-11
Dec-12
Dec-13
Dec-14
Dec-15
Dec-16
Figure 3. Number of federally registered agreements, quarterly, current 1991–2017.
Source: DoE (2017b).

Collective bargaining
Whatever the particular socio-cultural entanglements associated with low wages
growth, there are growing concerns that the current legislative framework does not
provide an effective mechanism to promote CB. The contraction of CB is now an
entrenched pattern, rather than a cyclical aberration. To understand this develop-
ment, it is useful to distinguish between the ‘stock’ of current agreements and the
‘flows’ associated with new agreements being approved and old agreements expir-
ing or being terminated. Figures 3 and 4 report the stock of all current agreements
and inward flow of newly approved agreements (respectively) in each quarter from
1991 through to the end of the June quarter 2017. Figure 3 shows the ongoing
decrease in the stock of current agreements. In the last 5 years, the number of
current agreements has fallen from 23,120 (June 2013) to 14,497 (June 2017) – a
decline of 37.3%. The contraction in the flow of newly approved agreements
(Figure 4) would suggest that this trend will continue into the near future: the
number of new agreements approved fell over each of the last four successive
quarters. The DoE (2017b) also reports on current agreements due to expire
each quarter. In June 2017, 2089 agreements were due to expire compared to 846
new agreements approved, again suggesting that the current flows of agreements
cannot maintain the current stock of existing agreements.
Caution should be taken in interpreting the data as formally expired agreements
generally remain in force until a new agreement is negotiated. Nonetheless, these
figures are indicative of the steady contraction of CB over time. This is reiterated
by the decline in the number of employees covered by current agreements
Gahan et al. 9

5500
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
R² = 0.5911
0
Dec-91
Dec-92
Dec-93
Dec-94
Dec-95
Dec-96
Dec-97
Dec-98
Dec-99
Dec-00
Dec-01
Dec-02
Dec-03
Dec-04
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-07
Dec-08
Dec-09
Dec-10
Dec-11
Dec-12
Dec-13
Dec-14
Dec-15
Dec-16
Figure 4. Number of federally registered agreements approved, quarterly, 1991–2017.
Source: DoE (2017b).

3000.0

2500.0

2000.0

1500.0

1000.0

500.0
R² = 0.9625
0.0
Dec-91
Dec-92
Dec-93
Dec-94
Dec-95
Dec-96
Dec-97
Dec-98
Dec-99
Dec-00
Dec-01
Dec-02
Dec-03
Dec-04
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-07
Dec-08
Dec-09
Dec-10
Dec-11
Dec-12
Dec-13
Dec-14
Dec-15
Dec-16

-500.0

All industries Public Public Poly. (All industries)

Figure 5. Number of employees covered by current federally registered enterprise

agreements, quarterly, 1991–2017.
Source: DoE (2017a).

(Figure 5). At the end of the June quarter, approximately 1.9 million employees
were covered by an EA – down from approximately 2.2 million in the same quarter
last year. In total, 11 of the last 20 quarters (5 years of data) – and 5 of the last 6
quarters – have recorded a decline in coverage. From an all-time high of 2.6 million
10 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

employees covered by EAs at the end of the March quarter 2014, coverage has
contracted by almost one-third (28.3%).

Significant industry campaigns and developments

It was an eventful year for unions in construction. In February, the federal gov-
ernment secured passage of its Building and Construction Industry (Improving
Productivity) Amendment Act 2017, significantly reducing the original 2-year tran-
sition period available to employers to ensure their EAs comply with the Code for
the Tendering and Performance of Building Work 2016 (the Code), a requirement
for contractors undertaking work on Commonwealth-funded building projects.
Construction unions rallied against the changes, which were framed as a wider
‘war on workers’ (ACTU, 2017). As employers faced the prospect of having to
vary, terminate and/or replace agreements to meet this new September 1 deadline,
the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) vowed in March
that it would not re-negotiate existing deals. In August the Senate voted against a
Labor motion to disallow the Code, and the CFMEU ultimately moved towards
finalising code-compliant agreements (Workplace Express, 2017a). In the courts,
the CFMEU’s industrial tactics continued to attract significant fines. In separate
decisions hitting the union with maximum fines, Judge Vasta described the
CFMEU as ‘the most recidivist corporate offender in Australian history’, whilst
Justice Flick observed that it was ‘not possible to envisage worse union behaviour’
(Workplace Express, 2017b, 2017c). Against this tide, the CFMEU was on the
winning side of legal proceedings when Nigel Hadgkiss resigned as head of
the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) in September,
after he admitted to contravening the Fair Work Act over his role in misrepresent-
ing the right-of-entry rules in the educational materials of the agency’s predecessor,
Fair Work Building and Construction (Marin-Guzman, 2017b).
In the mining and energy sector bargaining between the CFMEU and Glencore
at coal mines in NSW and Queensland was bitter and protracted. At Glencore’s
Oaky North operation in Queensland, negotiations for a new agreement have been
underway since mid-2015, and workers have twice voted to reject proposed agree-
ments. Both sides have taken industrial action, and workers have been locked out
by the company since July (Stevens, 2017). In October, the FWC issued a bargain-
ing order against Glencore for engaging in capricious or unfair conduct (FWC,
2017). In the Hunter Valley, negotiations at seven Glencore collieries also saw
workers take industrial action in June (Kirkwood, 2017). After more than
2 years of negotiations, Loy Yang power station and mine workers accepted a
new 4-year deal in June, which provides annual pay increases of 5% but removes
job security provisions. Power unions endorsed the deal following the Victorian
government’s successful bid to terminate proposed industrial action by both the
Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and operator AGL (Workplace Express, 2017d).
Unions also began a demonstration at the Esso’s Longford gas plant in June to
protest a plan by UGL (Esso’s maintenance contractor) to retrench workers and
Gahan et al. 11

have a subsidiary rehire them on reduced pay and with a dramatically changed fly-
in, fly-out roster (Asher, 2017). Variations of this strategy have been deployed by
employers in several high-profile disputes in recent years, notably at Carlton
United Breweries (Nicholson et al., 2017).
Unions and employers also clashed in manufacturing. In January, dairy giant
Parmalat locked out production and maintenance workers represented by the
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and ETU after they took
protected action at its Echuca plant in Victoria. The move came on the back of
the company’s application to terminate the agreement late last year. In March, the
locked-out workers rejected a company offer before voting up a revised deal later
that month, which addressed concerns over job security (Workplace Express,
2017e). Meanwhile, Unilever sought an agreement termination – after more than
a year of interest-based bargaining with the AMWU under the FWC’s ‘New
Approaches’ initiative failed to yield a settlement at its ‘Streets’ Ice Cream plant
in Sydney. The AWMU responded with a social media campaign – ‘the new tool in
the union movement’s arsenal’ – urging consumers to boycott the company’s ice
creams (Workplace Express, 2017f). Unions claimed this tactic was effective in
securing a revised offer, voted up by workers in November, without recourse to
traditional industrial action (Knaus and agencies, 2017).
In retail, Woolworths agreed to overhaul labour practices in its fresh food
supply chain after a long-running campaign by the National Union of Workers
(NUW) to highlight widespread worker exploitation in the horticulture sector
(Workplace Express, 2017g). Woolworths announced it would implement a pre-
approval system for ensuring that labour hire providers in its supply chain
comply with labour and human rights standards, to educate downstream workers
about their workplace rights, and to provide them with a grievance mechanism
for resolving human rights violations. The move followed shareholder activism by
the union, who teamed up with the Australian Centre for Corporate Social
Responsibility to bring resolutions on shareholders’ rights and human rights
reporting at the Woolworths annual general meeting. Outside the boardroom,
workers at Woolworths distributions centres in Victoria and NSW won new
agreements containing wage increases of about 4% and significantly improved
redundancy entitlements. Meanwhile, the Fair Work Ombudsman proceedings
continued against the NUW over unlawful industrial action alleged at two
Victorian Woolworths distribution centres in 2015. Scrutiny of the Shop and
Distributive Allied Employees Association (SDA) continued after many of its
EAs were found to leave workers worse off. In the most prominent example,
Coles conceded that most of its employees would be worse off under the SDA-
negotiated agreement than with award rates of pay. In November Coles reached
a settlement, agreeing to fast track a vote on a new agreement that would pay
rates higher than the award (Schneiders and Millar, 2017). In Victoria, United
Voice introduced a new website – RateMyBoss.org.au – where hospitality workers
can review past and present employers in a bid to expose widespread underpay-
ment (ABC, 2017b).
12 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

On the waterfront, a dispute between the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)

and stevedore Victorian International Container Terminals over dismissal of a
union delegate was resolved in December, following a picket that lasted more
than 2 weeks. Somewhat creatively, the MUA and the CFMEU sought to circum-
vent Victorian Supreme Court injunctions against the picket, claiming it was a
‘peaceful community protest’ (Toscano, 2017).
Victoria continued to be an industrially fraught environment in emergency services.
In May, in an attempt to bring an end to a protracted dispute between the United
Firefighters Union (UFU) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA), the Victorian
government announced its intention to split the CFA into two organisations, covering
professional and volunteer firefighters, respectively (ABC, 2017a). This legislation is
currently before the parliament. The Victorian government also directed the Victorian
Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to investigate a culture of sexual
harassment in the fire authorities, but the publication of the Commission’s report was
blocked by Supreme Court action launched by the UFU (SBS, 2017a).
In higher education, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) reached
agreements covering Deakin, UWA (University of Western Australia), Curtin,
Edith Cowan, ANU (Australian National University), Adelaide and Sydney uni-
versities (NTEU, 2017). Murdoch University won a bid to terminate its EA in
August. The significance of this for the sector more generally is unclear, although
the NTEU has claimed that it had little impact on bargaining outcomes at other
universities in WA, and may have activated support for union bargaining at other
universities (Patty, 2017b).

Public sector
After more than 3 years of negotiations, workers in key Commonwealth depart-
ments and agencies accepted revised agreements. Negotiations gained momentum in
the wake of a long-running campaign involving industrial action, majority ‘no’ votes
in agreement ballots, a damning senate inquiry into the government’s bargaining
policy, and a string of applications for good faith bargaining orders (Community
& Public Sector Union (CPSU), 2017). Although workers will not receive back pay,
these agreements ‘front load’ increments, with increases amounting to 6% paid in the
first 18 months of the 3-year deal. However, agreements are not finalised for some
agencies, including the Bureau of Meteorology and in the Federal Courts, where staff
rejected a deal in June that provided half the pay rises offered in other agencies
(McIllroy, 2017a). Meanwhile, the FWC was yet to arbitrate on pay and conditions
at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection after it terminated indus-
trial action last year. With a small proportion of public sector workers yet to conclude
new deals, a string of agreements settled early in this long-running bargaining round
will be up for re-negotiation in 2018 (McIllroy, 2017b).
Capping of public sector pay increases has caused tension in several states.
In SA, the union has demanded an annual pay rise of 2.5% for public servants,
above that state’s cap of 1.5% (Richardson, 2017). Unions in Tasmania also
Gahan et al. 13

signalled their intention to challenge the 2% wage cap in upcoming bargaining

(Aird, 2017). In WA, the newly elected state government replaced the 1.5% annual
cap with a $1000 across-the-board rise in May (Caporn, 2017). In NSW, public
sector workers achieved a 2.5% increase in June, the maximum allowed under that
state’s cap. However, in healthcare, workers have thus far refused to accept this
limit and bargaining continues (Morphet, 2017).
In May, the NSW Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Health Services Union
of Australia (HSUA), finding that continuing casuals in the public health sector
were entitled to long service leave (Workplace Express, 2017h). Elsewhere in
healthcare, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and the
Australian Medical Association called for the head of Tasmanian Health Service to
be sacked, citing concerns that bed and staff shortages were being ignored
(Blackwood, 2017). The ANMF also began a campaign to extend nurse-to-patient
ratios to aged care facilities (Workplace Express, 2017i).
In Victoria, the Australian Education Union (AEU) finalised a new EA for
teachers in March, securing a 14% pay rise over 3 years and better conditions
for contract teachers (Workplace Express, 2017j). In NSW, the AEU also secured
a deal with the Education Department to convert casual and temporary teaching
positions to permanent status (Workplace Express, 2017k).
Childcare workers across the country walked off the job at 3:20 pm on
International Women’s Day, marking the moment when women begin ‘effectively
working for free’ due to the gender pay gap (Workplace Express, 2017l). This
action was one of several staged by United Voice throughout the year to
demand pay rises, whilst simultaneously pursuing a work value decision in the
FWC (Workplace Express, 2017m).

Union leadership and governance

In January, Dave Oliver stood down as ACTU secretary (Koziol and Patty, 2017),
replaced by Sally McManus as the peak body’s first female secretary. She signalled
a shift towards a more combative style of leadership, stating in an interview that
unions and workers were justified in breaking ‘unjust’ industrial laws. These and
other comments drew the ire of some commentators and IR actors (Norington,
2017). In September, ACTU President Ged Kearney announced she would be
stepping down from the role to stand as a candidate in the next Victorian state
election. Her replacement is not decided (Towell et al., 2017).
McManus’ new leadership was accompanied by a more ambitious policy plat-
form for the union movement. Under the banner of ‘Change the Rules’, unions
argued that the economic and political system is broken, citing political corruption
and yawning levels of inequality, and advocated for more ambitious policy solu-
tions (SBS, 2017b). Unions also began an attempt to raise public awareness around
underpayment of wages by re-framing the practice as ‘wage theft’ – a term used in the
US for violation of labour standards related to wages (Rogers, 2010). McManus
argued that wage theft has become a business model for some employers and
14 Journal of Industrial Relations 0(0)

advocated the criminalisation of the practice and jail time for offenders (Hannan,
2017), among other reforms intended to extend union rights and promote CB.
In May, the federal government launched a new regulatory agency – the
Registered Organisations Commission (ROC) – to regulate the behaviour of
unions and employer associations. The ROC made news in October when the
Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the offices of the Australian Workers
Union (AWU) at the regulator’s request. These raids related to donations made
by the union in 2006 to GetUp! when federal opposition leader Bill Shorten was
AWU secretary. Controversially, the press was made aware of the raids by a
member of Employment Minister Michaela Cash’s staff, a charge she originally
denied but later conceded, and the staffer resigned (Karp, 2017). In December, as
part of a more extensive cabinet re-shuffle, Minister Cash relinquished responsibil-
ity for Workplace Relations to Craig Laundy. The ROC has also announced a
formal investigation into the Victorian UFU, and has referred other unions to the
courts for minor transgressions (Houghton, 2017).
The Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) came into effect on 1 March 2017. This
new law strengthened bargaining rights and introduced family violence leave for
public sector workers. In October, industrial manslaughter became an offence in
Queensland, making senior executives criminally liable for deaths in their work-
places (Stevenson and Burke, 2017). Moves to regulate labour hire arrangements
are also likely to shape union strategy, with Queensland legislating a licensing
scheme to commence in April 2018, and Victoria and SA in the process of legislat-
ing similar arrangements (ABC, 2017c). The 2014/2015 Royal Commission into
Trade Union Governance and Corruption continued to shape the governments’
legislative agenda (Pekarek and Gahan, 2016). In August, the federal parliament
passed amendments to the FW Act that restrict employer contributions to unions
that represent their employees, such as union picnic days (Patty, 2017c). At the time
of writing, the federal government was also in the process of legislating a ‘public
interest test’ for union mergers. This is broadly seen as an attempt to scupper a
merger between the CFMEU, MUA and the Textile, Clothing and Footwear
Union of Australia, which formally notified the FWC of their intention to conduct
internal ballots to endorse a three-way merger in June (Australian Financial Review,
2017). The test is part of a broader piece of legislation aimed at curbing the power
of militant unions by further empowering the FWC to deregister unions that
breach industrial laws (Marin-Guzman, 2017b).

Conclusion
After another tough year that has taken its toll on unions, there appear to be few
signs that a more benign environment for unions and bargaining will emerge any-
time soon. Wage growth continues at historic low levels; membership decline
appears to be accelerating rather than slowing; and bargaining coverage continues
to decline. Unions also face new challenges over the horizon, including a Royal
Gahan et al. 15

Commission into the Australian Banking System, which is to include an examin-

ation of union-backed industry superannuation funds (Verrender, 2017). There are
nonetheless signs that unions continue to attempt new innovations intended to
change this bleak equation. As we have seen, social media campaigning has devel-
oped a new sophistication, and reframed debates (underpayment to wage theft)
have gained resonance. Over the horizon, the NUW’s planned class action to
address egregious cases of underpayment and worker exploitation (Patty, 2017d),
and the ACTU’s push for a living wage and other reforms to the FW Act, suggest
some promise. Amidst growing uncertainty and speculation about the future of
work and its implications for jobs, skill and inequality, the success of these and
other innovations is likely to have profound consequences for workers and the
future of the unions and CB.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication
of this article.

Note
1. ‘Employed persons’ includes employees, owner-managers in incorporated enterprises
(OMIEs) and owner-managers in unincorporated enterprises (OMUEs). Prior to the
commencement of the new series in 2014, ABS union membership data included employ-
ees and OMIEs only.

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Workplace Express, 23 November. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼56282&hlc¼2&hlw¼Woolworths
+NUW&s_keyword¼
Woolworths+NUW&s_searchfrom_date¼631112400&s_searchto_date¼1512602209&s_
pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 6 December 2017).
Workplace Express (2017h) Continuing casuals in public health accrue long service leave,
court rules. Workplace Express, 30 November. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.
Gahan et al. 21

com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼56310&hlc¼2&hlw¼health&
s_keyword¼health&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼1512305
940&s_pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 February 2017).
Workplace Express (2017i) Bill seeks to lift nursing skill levels in aged care homes.
Workplace Express, 07 September. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼56034&hlc¼2&hlw¼ANMF&s_key-
word¼ANMF&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼1512305940&s_
pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 December 2017).
Workplace Express (2017j) Teachers win extra non-teaching days under new deal.
Workplace Express, 27 March. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼55485&hlc¼2&hlw¼teachers&s_key-
word¼teachers&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼1512219540&s_
pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 December 2017).
Workplace Express (2017k) Teachers’ union secures deal to convert casuals, temps.
Workplace Express, 18 October. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼56164&hlc¼2&hlw¼teachers&s_key-
word¼teachers&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼1512219540&s_
pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 December 2017).
Workplace Express (2017l) Childcare workers to walk out on Women’s Day. Workplace
Express, 06 March. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼55410&hlc¼2&hlw¼childcare&s_
keyword¼childcare&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼151221
9540&s_pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 December 2017).
Workplace Express (2017m) Bench still seeking ‘‘real world’’ comparator in equal pay case.
Workplace Express, 01 December. Available at: www.workplaceexpress.com.au/
nl06_news_selected.php?act¼2&stream¼1&selkey¼56312&hlc¼2&hlw¼child-
care&s_keyword¼childcare&s_searchfrom_date¼1483189200&s_searchto_date¼15122
19540&s_pagesize¼20&s_word_match¼2&s_articles¼1 (accessed 2 December 2017).

Biographical notes
Peter Gahan is a Professor of Management in the Department of Management and
Marketing at the University of Melbourne. His research interests span high per-
formance work practices, workplace innovation, employment relations, bargaining,
and the social and economic consequences of labour market regulation.

Andreas Pekarek is a Lecturer in the Department of Management and Marketing

at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on unions and worker rep-
resentation, collective bargaining, occupations and professions, and interdisciplin-
ary and comparative approaches to work and industrial relations.

Daniel Nicolson is a PhD candidate at Cardiff Business School and a research

associate in the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of
Melbourne. Daniel’s research is concerned with industrial relations and labour
studies, and is currently focused on the effects of technological change on employ-
ment and the transformation of jobs.