The 2022 amendments to the Fair Work Act brought about the ability to negotiate a Multi-Enterprise Bargaining Agreement – the first attempt at doing so is currently under scrutiny as the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union fail to pull-together, and sack the key negotiator of the deal.

The AMWU has been engaging air-conditioner manufacturers in New South Wales to make the first deal that would draw in 23 businesses with 1,000 employees – but talks have come to a halt with the AMWU removing its main negotiator.

In fact, the AMWU has stood down or terminated three of its people in the last 2 months. Why? Allegedly, they dare to question the leadership of the State Branch with upcoming leadership elections looming.

The AMWU is now facing legal action relating to the dismissals of the Union officials, one of which being the lead negotiator on this critical, first multi-employer deal.

More about the landmark deal:

Basically, the employers want to align qualifications across A/C manufacturing, and they want to connect pay rises to employees who learn new things instead of just handing them out like candy. Typically, pay increases have been guaranteed under Enterprise Bargaining Agreements and tied to anniversaries or other annual activation points.

If this multi-employer agreement gets the green light, the AMWU will undoubtedly attempt to bring other employers into it, as long as they’re similar enough to the employers making the deal.

But – what does ‘similar enough’ mean?

If the employers in this case seek to base their ‘similarity’ on qualifications held by employees, we should be concerned this approach will be attempted across all sectors in the Country. That could mean, for example, any retail shop owner that employs anyone with a retail certificate of some kind could be dragged into an industry-wide agreement.

Of course, we’re yet to see how this all will play out, but this first agreement should be closely scrutinised with respect to the ‘similarity’ it relies upon to draw in other businesses.

The AMWU:

The AMWU NSW is currently under fire with multiple legal actions that will and are affecting this negotiation, including an unfair dismissal claim from the head negotiator of the Agreement, and Federal Court proceedings initiated by two other organisers.

Allegedly, union insiders have claimed the AMWU NSW secretary (the union’s head) suspended these union officials in March 2023, claiming they were using work time to campaign for an AMWU candidate running against their incumbent in an election. Considered unfair by AMWU officials, that decision has been widely criticised.

In fact, some public commentary on this particular issue claim AMWU internal officials are likening the conduct to internal ‘warfare’.

There is very little wonder why talks have stalled. Unsurprisingly, even something as major as the first multi-employer bargaining agreement since the Albanese election and IR amendments isn’t even enough to avoid typical union infighting. It ought to be.