Labor working on crossbencher Pocock to pass industrial relations reform, but splitting the bill is not yet an option

Labor has hinted at further amendments to its massive industrial relations reform bill, but lingering Senate concerns over multi-employer bargaining remain a barrier between the federal government and its hopes of passing the omnibus in full by Christmas.

Speaking on ABC Radio National Tuesday morning, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke said the federal government is willing to further rework elements of its 249-page bill after concerns from business lobbyists and the Senate crossbench.

“We’ve shown good faith in terms of the consultation,” Burke said.

“And, you know, there’ll be further work that’s done as a result of the Senate inquiry as that process goes through.”

Already, Labor has retooled its plans around multi-employer bargaining.

It has agreed to change the legislation so a majority of employees in each workplace must push for multi-employer enterprise bargaining agreements before they come into effect, instead of allowing a majority of employees across the relevant industry sector to call the shots on those agreements.

However, the bill’s language around the single-interest employer bargaining stream has emerged as a sticking point for independent Senator David Pocock, whose vote from the Senate crossbench could determine if Labor’s reforms come to pass.

Single-interest employer bargaining refers to enterprise agreements struck between workers across two or more businesses operating as a joint venture or as a common enterprise.

“They can also be employers authorised as single interest employers by the Fair Work Commission, which may be either franchisees or other employers where the Minister for Employment has made a declaration,” the Fair Work Ombudsman states.

Labor’s bill plans to simplify that process, with Burke calling the need for the Minister for Employment to adjudicate on single-interest employer agreements “unnecessary red tape”.

However, ABC reports Pocock wants the single-interest stream updates carved out of the legislation, allowing the passage of less contentious measures before lawmakers leave Canberra for the festive season.

In recent Senate hearings, Pocock said small business groups raised concerns over how many employees a business can have before it could be exposed to the single-interest bargaining stream, and questioned the use of grace periods between one enterprise agreement ending and another single-interest agreement beginning.

Pocock’s broad position is that parliamentarians should have more time to investigate the implications of the bill before rubber-stamping it, even if they are broadly aligned with Labor over the need to boost employee wages.

There's been a lot of talk in the last week about Industrial Relations reforms. If you believe the headlines there are only two choices: supporting workers and passing it as quickly as possible OR backing business and stopping it. This simply isn’t true.

— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) November 6, 2022

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Burke indicated the government is not yet willing to split its bill into separate pieces, instead saying he hopes to win over Pocock through further consultation.

“And so what I’m hopeful is over the next couple of weeks that I’m able to give him more comfort on the single-interest stream,” Burke said. “The single-interest stream is still important.”

The hopes of passing the legislation before December 1 are still alive, he added.

“My hope, my determination — obviously you’re in the hands of the Senate once the legislation gets there — but my determination is I really have a sense of urgency in wanting to get this legislation through this year,” Burke said.