Labor claims it has won support to revive minimum conditions in the road transport industry and will push to make further changes to pay deal bargaining, the workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, has revealed.
With employer backlash brewing over the closing loophole bill’s same job same pay provisions, Labor has opened up new fronts by revealing truck owner-drivers could be awarded minimum rates of pay by the industrial umpire, restoring protections controversially repealed by the Coalition.
The road safety remuneration tribunal (RSRT) was repealed ahead of the 2016 election amid claims backed by the then employment minister, Michaelia Cash, that setting minimum charge-out rates for independent contractors had driven them to financial hardship and even suicide.
On Monday Burke, introduced the bill to the House of Representatives, arguing it is needed “to close loopholes that have undercut secure jobs, better pay and safe workplaces”.
The bill would allow: the Fair Work Commission to make enterprise agreement model terms; franchisees to bargain together in a single stream; and employers with a multi-enterprise agreement to bargain with their employees for a replacement single enterprise agreement.
The FWC will gain the power to set minimum standards for the road transport industry and hear disputes about unfair contract terminations.
The commission will have discretion on what those minimum standards will cover, but must be satisfied that its orders won’t adversely affect the viability or competitiveness of road transport contractor drivers.
The power to set conditions in the road transport industry are one plank of a bill that includes provisions to criminalise wage theft, improve the right to secure jobs for permanent casuals, provide equal pay for labour hire workers and give minimum conditions to gig economy workers.
The bill has already provoked a fierce reaction from employer groups who have warned it will increase complexity and costs for consumers.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said “the only winners in this are union chiefs”.
“The only loophole this bad legislation is looking to close is that of plummeting union membership,” he said. “If you’re in labour hire or want a casual job, prepare for unemployment.”
Ahead of the bill’s introduction the influential crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie warned that “if we haven’t had the time, certainly from the Jacqui Lambie Network[’s perspective], it won’t be going through this year”.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, noted that if the Coalition opposes the bill Labor will need his party’s 11 Senate votes. The minor party has called for the government to add provisions guaranteeing workers a “right to disconnect” from work by refusing to answer work phone calls and emails in their leisure time.
The manager of opposition business, Paul Fletcher, proposed to delay the bill until October. Coalition support is considered extremely unlikely given it opposed the secure jobs, better pay bill last year.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has criticised many elements of the closing loopholes bill, including Labor’s “same job same pay” policy, and accused the government of pursuing a union agenda.
The September 2022 jobs and skills summit called for further consideration of minimum standards for the road transport industry, a key demand of the Labor-affiliated Transport Workers Union.
The RSRT was established by the Gillard government to set minimum charge-out and pay rates, due to concerns that drivers competing on price was encouraging unsafe practices including poor maintenance and driving while fatigued.
But when the laws came into effect, many owner-drivers complained that inability to set prices left them unable to compete with big trucking companies.
In September 2016 Cash released a report by the former small business ombudsman, Kate Carnell, claiming that in at least two instances people reported an owner-driver they knew had taken their own lives “as a consequence of financial pressure, at least in part” due to an order of the RSRT.
Cash incorrectly claimed that there is “no link” between truck drivers’ pay and road safety, despite one report she cited by PwC in 2016 finding there was a “statistically significant” correlation between the two.
The closing loopholes bill contains numerous safeguards against unexpected changes in conditions, including requiring a notice of intention process to give parties time to consider draft minimum standards orders before they are binding.
The FWC will also have to ensure genuine consultation with parties including the road transport advisory group and consider commercial realities of the industry.
Burke said despite the sector being “racked with conflict” when the issue was considered by the previous Liberal-National government, Labor had “brought people together” including at the jobs and skills summit.
“There is now a broad consensus that we need minimum standards in this sector to protect lives and ensure a sustainable and viable trucking industry.”
Burke cited support from the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation, the peak employer group; NatRoad, a not-for-profit association supporting road transport operators; and one board member of the National Road Freighters Association.
This article was written by Paul Karp Chief political correspondent from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.