Labor government may remove ‘red tape’ in collective bargaining rules in bid to lift wages

theguardian.com:

Workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, has hinted Labor may remove “red tape” that discourages multi-employer collective bargaining as part of industrial relations reforms designed to lift wages.

On Monday, Burke all but confirmed the Albanese government will drastically restrict employers’ ability to terminate pay deals early in a speech to the Australian Industry Group.

The comments about red tape suggest that although Labor has not agreed to union demands for industry-level bargaining, it may look to encourage broader collective bargaining beyond separate pay deals for each employer, as the rules generally require.

Burke is leading the workplace relations reform group of the government’s jobs and skills summit in early September. Increases to productivity and workers’ wages, languishing behind runaway inflation are at the top of the agenda.

In his speech, Burke said the government wants the“Fair Work Commission to facilitate bargaining and help parties make agreements”.

“We want bargaining to happen in good faith – and we particularly want to make sure the bargaining system works for small business and for women,” he said.

Asked how Labor aims to accomplish this, Burke told reporters in Canberra he is looking to slash “red tape”.

“Sometimes you can get a situation where the employer and the workers agree and the red tape in the system blows the whole thing up,” he said.

Burke nominated time periods for pay deal bargaining processes and a restriction on joint bargaining across different employersas examples.

“I’ve had [instances] where employers have to come and seek my personal permission as to whether they’re allowed to bargain together,” he said.

“Ultimately if an employer and their workforce agree, and the union agrees,