because of changes to bargaining laws made by the Albanese government in 2022.Australia’s labour laws are still not conducive to sector-wide disputes.The new laws, which the unions will use to initiate bargaining with BHP, were introduced as part of the “Secure Jobs, Better Pay” workplace reforms package introduced by the government in 2022.
Before this, if a union wanted to start bargaining with an employer that would not consent to do so, the primary legal mechanism was an application to the Fair Work Commission for a majority support determination. That meant the applicant had to demonstrate a majority of support in the workforce. If the workforce has truly been reluctant to engage in bargaining in the past decade – as lack of earlier support might suggest – then it seems improbable that the same workforce would now flock to the unions simply because of the technical initiation of enterprise bargaining.