Qld LNP crushes public sector workers’ right to organise

The Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) government introduced legislation in October to make it more difficult for state public sector and local council workers to organise and take industrial action. Nearly 400,000 workers in the state who are not covered by the federal Fair Work Act will be impacted.

The legislation raises the threshold for workers’ compensation claims for psychological injury, requiring work to be the “major significant” cause of the injury. This could reduce the number of claims for these injuries, about which workers are now more conscious.

It does not address these injuries’ causes, such as the unsafe conditions, excessive workloads, chronic understaffing and exposure to violence and abuse faced by public sector workers, who are five times more likely than other workers to experience psychological injury, according to Queensland Unions (QU).

The legislation introduces the restrictive provisions already included in federal laws that make it more difficult for workers to take industrial action. This includes restrictions on union organisers' right to enter workplaces with “fit and proper person” tests, a requirement of three working days’ notice before taking industrial action and allowing employers to reduce pay during industrial action partial bans and withhold pay from workers on strike. 

The Queensland bill goes further than federal laws in some ways. 

It changes the basis for the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission’s (QIRC) orders — which determine which employers and employees will be covered by an agreement.

It adds the criteria that the order must “not adversely affect the business or operational needs of any employer to be covered”. This would allow actions like those taken by Qantas, which split workers across three distinct companies to drive down pay and conditions. 

Another change prevents workers from taking industrial action during QIRC’s conciliation of bargaining. This ban is not automatic under federal laws. 

The bill gives the industrial relations minister extraordinary power to ban otherwise protected industrial action, even before it begins. 

The minister would also be able to ban actions if they “disrupt the delivery of a public service” or “otherwise have a significant effect that is contrary to the public interests”. This severely limits the ability of public sector workers to take industrial action. 

If bargaining reaches a deadlock, the legislation would force the QIRC arbitration to consider not only workplace productivity and public interest — provisions included in federal laws — but also the state’s fiscal strategy and the public employer’s financial position. 

That means workers will be limited to the pay caps for workers that the government could declare before bargaining begins. 

The legislation weakens workplace health and safety by lowering standards and removing codes of practice. Workers’ ability to cease unsafe work will be further limited.

QU said the preventive role of existing codes will be reduced and Queensland specific codes which address local industry risks — such as sugar milling, coal dust exposure and diving — are being replaced with broader national guidelines. 

The bill would also allow employers to request a job applicant’s workers compensation claims history.

QU’s response has been to launch its Protect the People Who Protect Queensland campaign. This includes a petition, gathering stories of personal experiences of workplace injuries, and  leafleting, letterboxing and other campaigning in workplaces and at transit hubs. 

Meetings are planned across regional Queensland in November as well as an online forum. 

But workers can consider what else could be done to defend organising rights and fight back against the restrictions on industrial action. 

[Jonathan Strauss is a long-time unionist and community organiser.]