Union basics: Bargaining and finalising new Agreements
This year, the IEU begins campaigning for wage increases in our biggest sector – Victorian Catholic schools – and vital negotiations continue in scores of independent schools. Here’s a refresher on how bargaining works.
What is Bargaining?
Bargaining is the negotiation process between employers and employees (usually represented by their union) to negotiate an Enterprise Agreement covering pay, hours, leave, and other workplace conditions.
Agreements
An Enterprise Agreement is legally binding, and sets out pay, duties, entitlements and other working conditions. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) approves Agreements and resolves disputes about their implementation or alleged breaches. Employees in workplaces without Agreements can rely only on the bare-bones employment protections in Awards and the National Employment Standards.
Why Bargain Collectively?
"United We Bargain, Divided We Beg." Collective bargaining through a union gives workers a stronger voice in negotiations with employers, helping to ensuring fair wages and conditions.
Preparation & Log of Claims
Before negotiations, the union reviews industry Agreements and surveys members to set priorities. This vital process ensures that the voice of members informs the union’s Log of Claims, which outlines proposed improvements to pay and conditions.
Member Representation
When bargaining in a single independent school, the IEU bargaining team will usually consist of an experienced IEU Officer and several Bargaining Reps from the IEU sub-branch, ideally representing the different groups of employees who will be covered by the Agreement.
When bargaining for an Agreement covering a large sector, such as Victorian Catholic education, the IEU bargaining team will consist of several experienced negotiators, including members of the leadership team and industrial experts.
Importantly – the IEU can only represent IEU members at the bargaining table!
The Negotiation Process
Union and employer representatives meet to present evidence and argue for claims. Negotiations commence when the union presents its Log of Claims to employer representatives, who will often have their own claims to make as well.
Negotiations can be lengthy, as both sides make their cases on a range of matters and need time to consider arguments and evidence made by the other party as they seek to reach consensus.
If Negotiations Stall
If talks break down, parties can seek the assistance of the Fair Work Commission to resolve outstanding issues.
If this does not succeed, union members can seek to take industrial action. This requires a ballot of union members in which at least 50% of members participate, and a majority endorse taking action. Only union members can vote in this ballot or take protected industrial action – an important point to remind any non-member colleagues of!
The laws governing industrial action are complex. Until recent amendments to the Fair Work Act, union members seeking to negotiate a Multi-Enterprise Agreement (such as IEU members employed in Victorian Catholic Education) were denied the right to take protected action.
Finalising an Agreement
Once agreement is reached on a proposed draft, it is circulated to employees for a final vote. If endorsed by a majority, the proposed document is submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval, after which it comes into legally binding effect.
Agreements sit alongside other relevant legislation (for example the Occupational Health and Safety Act) as part of the rules of a workplace, suspected breaches of which can be legally challenged by the IEU.