ACTU president Michele O’Neil says laws will make it possible for government ministers and disgruntled employers to shut down unions

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Unions have begun lobbying the Senate crossbench to oppose the Coalition’s ensuring integrity bill, as Labor confirms it will stand firm against the rejigged legislation.

The attorney general, Christian Porter, has named the union crackdown his first industrial relations priority, capitalising on the crisis gripping the CFMMEU while the Victorian secretary, John Setka, fights his expulsion from the Labor party.

The revamped legislation, which Porter said was a “major test for Labor’s leadership”, was introduced into the House of Representatives last week and has now been referred to the Senate employment committee.

The government is hoping it can win over the new Senate crossbench to support the bill, which it says will address a “culture of lawlessness” within the union movement. It needs only four of the six Senate crossbenchers to side with it to pass the bill.

Coalition uses Setka scandal to revive laws allowing deregistration of 'rogue' unions Read more

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has begun lobbying the crossbench to oppose the laws, saying they are “fundamentally unfair” and represent an extreme interference into the operation of unions.

“These laws will make it possible for government ministers and disgruntled employers to shut down unions and deny working people their right to choose their own representatives,” the ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, said.

“It is important that people are free from government and employer interference so they can join unions and elect representatives who fight for pay rises and to protect jobs and workplace safety.

“These laws are fundamentally unfair. They would not apply to business, not apply to banks and not apply to politicians, despite their serious unethical conduct.”

Labor’s shadow industrial relations minister, Tony Burke, said nothing in the changes to the “dangerous and extreme” bill presented by the government addressed the party’s concerns.

“We note they have now rewritten the bill in a bid to address some of Labor’s concerns,” Burke said. “However, we still have significant problems with this bill, which will ultimately hurt ordinary workers.

“We will continue to consult and work through the detail but we will not support a bill that makes it harder for workers to get a fair pay rise.

“We will not support a bill that could leave workers without the representatives that protect them from wage theft, superannuation theft and dangerous workplaces.”

Under the changes put forward by the government, recommendations to align the union reforms with their corporate equivalents were adopted, including the grounds on which an official can be disqualified and penalties for criminal offences.

But the union is concerned that the bill would allow anyone with a “sufficient interest” to apply to the federal court for a wide range of orders including disqualification of an officer and even the deregistration of a union.

It would also allow such people to object to the amalgamation of unions – such as the merger between the CFMEU and MUA – in court.

Centre Alliance, which controls two Senate votes, said that it was inclined to support the legislation, welcoming the changes to treat unions and corporations in the same manner. But Senator Stirling Griff said he was not interested in a “union bashing” exercise.

“It has got to be consistent across the corporate world as well as unions – that just makes sense,” Griff told Guardian Australia.

His fellow Centre Alliance senator, Rex Patrick, said the party would consider the bill but might seek further amendments.

“There is no question that some union officials and some unions have operated in a manner where in some sense breaching the law is just a cost of doing business,” he said. “Centre Alliance is taking the view that misconduct in any sector of the economy needs to be dealt with, but it shouldn’t be restricted to one sector.”

A spokesperson for One Nation said that the party had “fruitful but robust” discussions with the union but said it was “nice that they were taking the time to have a chat”.

“Pauline [Hanson] has always made it very clear that she believes that there is a place for unions but not when they want to bully.”

When introducing the legislation, Porter said Labor had voted in the last parliament against much-needed reforms that would help the federal court penalise misconduct.

“Since then, we have seen more appalling behaviour by rogue sections of the union movement and by officials within those unions who fail to take their duties and responsibilities seriously,” he said.

“The militant CFMMEU, for instance, has been penalised more than $16m by the courts for over 2,000 contraventions of the law in recent years. This repeated lawbreaking, particularly in our vital building and construction sector, hampers the delivery of goods and services and increases the cost of vital infrastructure projects like roads, schools and hospitals – a cost that’s ultimately borne by taxpayers.

“We have heard the new Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and others within his party, roundly condemn John Setka of the CFMMEU. Now it is time for Mr Albanese and Labor to prove they’re not all talk and back their words with action.”