Australia proposes new laws to boost union power

Canberra: Australia's centre-left Labor government moved to revive the influence of the country's struggling union movement on Tuesday, unveiling new workplace laws which employers warned would lead to more disruption.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who brought the laws to parliament, said the changes would restore fairness and job security to workers, who lost basic rights under the former conservative government.

But a leading employer group said the new emphasis on employee rights and collective bargaining would lead to increased "union activism".

"The combination of new employee and union rights and the new regulatory and compliance obligations will carry significant risks to employers, small business and jobs," Peter Anderson, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.

The reforms are a key part of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's political agenda, after he won power in late 2007 by promising to abolish highly unpopular workplace laws which had undermined job security and weakened union power.

Endorsement

The new laws, expected to be endorsed by parliament by mid-2009, make it harder for bosses to sack workers, and give workers the right to have a collective agreement rather than the individual work contracts favoured by the former government.

The laws also restore union rights to enter a workplace to meet union members, and to be involved in negotiating wages and conditions if asked by workers, although the government will maintain secret ballots in any vote to strike.