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Industrial Technology

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Personnel Issues

Unions in the workplace

This unit of work addresses aspects related to the following syllabus outcome:

A student:

Source: Board of Studies NSW (2008) Stage 6 industrial technology, preliminary and HSC courses. Board of Studies, Sydney

Background

A union is an association of workers, from a similar field of employment, which uses its strength of numbers to initiate changes in working conditions, by bringing areas of concern to the attention of the employer.

Unions developed to protect workers from being exploited by unscrupulous employers who expected long hours of work for low rates of pay.

There is a long history of various industrial disputes and enterprise bargaining that have led to the many minimum award conditions that workers enjoy in a modern work environment.

Many larger industries have well established union representation, for example, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union or the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Union.

The representation of the union in the workplace falls to the union representative who is elected by fellow workers. This person monitors workers conditions and ensures that rights and entitlements are maintained.

Terminology:

1. Arbitration is a method of dispute settlement in which an independent third party considers the arguments of both sides and then makes a ruling that is binding on the parties in a dispute.
   
   
2. Award An award is a legal document setting out the minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment that apply to employees in a particular industry.
   
   
3. Conciliation is a dispute settling method in which a third party, usually an independent, seeks to bring the disputants to the point where they can reach agreement. The conciliator acts as an 'honest broker' in the negotiations. In Australia, agreements produced through formal conciliation lead to changes in award provisions. If the conciliator is unsuccessful in settling some or all of the issues that are in dispute, these items can be referred to arbitration. Conciliation is not necessarily a precondition for arbitration.
   
   
4. An enterprise agreement sets out the minimum conditions of employment for employees engaged in particular types of work in the same way as an award. However unlike most awards, enterprise agreements are specific to a particular enterprise or project. Enterprise agreements are negotiated voluntarily between an employer and either the employees concerned or a union on behalf of those employees (the parties).
   
   
5. Equal employment opportunity (EEO) means that everyone should have fair and equitable access to jobs, employment conditions, training and promotional opportunities. It does not assume that everyone has the same abilities but aims to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to demonstrate their abilities, to use them, improve them and benefit from them. EEO is consistent with the principle of merit. It means that the best person is chosen for the job, promotion or training opportunity and that they are selected only on criteria that are relevant.
   
   
6. Industrial dispute: The term can refer to any disagreement in industrial relations, and primarily to those that arise between employers and employees. The term is also used synonymously with strikes and other particular forms of industrial action.
   
   
7. Redundancy is the permanent displacement of some part of the workforce of an organisation as a result of plant closure, organisational or technological changes. A redundancy agreement can be reached between a union and an organisation that proposes to terminate the employment of a number (perhaps all) of the employees. Such agreements generally involve paying out the employees, in lieu of continued employment, according to a formula based upon the length of service of each employee. The longer the period of continuous employment the larger the severance payment a worker will be entitled to.
   
   
8. Severance pay is the final payment made to an employee when their employment is terminated. It includes amounts for accrued leave, leave loadings, and accrued pay for time already worked. In instances of redundancy, severance pay can also include redundancy pay.

Activity 1

The Department of Industrial Relations sets the minimum awards and working conditions for employees in the workplace.

Answer the following questions from:
http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/Workers/My_entitlements/Trade_unions.html

1. In what areas can unions represent their members?
2. Apart from individual employers, what other stakeholders do unions deal with?

Answer

Activity 2

When disputes arise in the workplace the union intervenes to represent the employees in an industry in negotiations with the employer. If the dispute is not resolved at this level, the matter is referred to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Go to: http://www.airc.gov.au/ and from the "summary" determine what are the functions of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Answer