May 29, 2015
The Services Union is campaigning to hold the new State Government to an election commitment to reform industrial relations legislation.
The union says its members employed by local councils across Queensland have been adversely affected by changed introduced by the previous LNP government.
A union spokesman said the current legislation unfairly prohibits what employees can negotiate and what conditions can be contained in their industrial agreements.
The Services Union made three submissions this week to the Parliamentary Hearing into the Industrial Relations (Restoring Fairness) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015.
Union secretary Neil Henderson said a claim by the Local Government Association of Queensland that 1500 jobs would be lost if the Bill was passed was misleading.
“While the LGAQ asserts the passing of this Bill will lead to job loses, the submission made by them provides no evidence that these job losses can be directly attributed to the introduction of this Bill,” Mr Henderson said.
“In fact, from the LGAQ’s submission it would appear the reduction of a number of Federal and State Government grants has been a contributing factor with respect to current and predicted job losses.
“There was also the claim that the introduction of non-allowable matters to the Industrial Relations Act 1999 by the previous Newman Government harmonised it with the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. This is simply not true.
“The current legislation is at odds with the Fair Work Act which does not prevent bargaining for job security and enhanced consultation; the Bill currently before Parliament corrects this.
“The Bill allows the parties negotiating to determine what will be contained in an agreement that covers their workforce, this is an important right for employees and employers.”
