Porter's proposed IR changes signal a dangerous return to WorkChoices-era unilateral employer wage-setting power in enterprise agreements; 2 yrs to push non-union below-Award EAs & fix wages for long periods of time in other EAs. A LOT of damage can be done in 2yrs. THREAD 1/10

First, the sum is greater than its parts; parallel proposals to weaken the Better Off Overall Test, stop unions contesting bad EAs, & the relaxation of requirements governing EA approval process at FWC will expand no. of low-wage non-union EAs. How do we know this? 2/10

It's happened before! In WorkChoices EAs could undercut Awards. Unions were restricted from contesting approvals. The result was explosion in non-union EAs; rising 20%-60% of all private sctr EAs 04-09. See dramatic decline in 09? That's when FWAct & BOOT were introduced. 3/10

The WorkChoices-era surge in non-union, low-wage EAs had lasting negative impacts on wage growth. "Zombie EAs" like Merivale's paid 3k staff up to 20% below Award wages on an expired 07 non-union EA. Thousands are likely still on these Howard-era below-Award EAs. 4/10

Employers implemented unilaterally-designed EAs to cut wages under WorkChoices & they'll do it again. 5/10

Porter & biz claim allowing EAs to undermine Awards will reboot bargaining. But more inferior, below-Award “deals” would make workers’ employment conditions, incl. wage outcomes, worse, not better. It defeats the whole point of collective bargaining: to improve on the floor! 6/10

Far from new COVID-era policy Porter's changes read like the biz lobbyists' Xmas list...of many years ago! We listed their enterprise bargaining proposals in Oct '19 & outline how FWAct can be reformed to build a more viable bargaining system. 7/10 https://www.futurework.org.au/employer_proposals_would_take_the_bargaining_out_of_collective_bargaining

LNP have discarded deficit politics but not their agenda to deepen employer power this recession. Major structural problems in Aus private sctr (weak capital spending, productivity, innovation, resource-dependent role in global trade) will be made worse by changes. 8/10

By making it easier to pass below-Award EAs & expand casual work, Porter is allowing businesses to rely on continued suppression of labour costs to subsidise their own failures. 9/10

Reduced wages bills WILL NOT create jobs, lift productivity or spark the ambitious, sustained large public investments we need to rebuild from recession. For more on COVID-era reconstruction, @JimboStanford and I write > END https://www.ppesydney.net/content/uploads/2020/06/24_Pennington-and-Stanford.pdf