ARTICLE · 30 JUNE 2011

Employer control over union entry weakened

DLA Piper Australia

Explore more from DLA Piper Australia

Two recent decisions dealing with right of entry protocol to the workplace.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

Allan Drake-Brockman

Union membership in Australia started to increase soon after Kevin Rudd won power in 2007 after declining for nearly 20 years. The Fair Work Act 2009 certainly makes it difficult for employers to avoid dealing with unions who wish to represent members in the employer's workplace.

At the frontier of expanding union membership in Australia is the unions' right to enter workplaces to hold discussions with employees, including to promote the benefits of union membership and to sign up new members.

Two recent decisions of Fair Work Australia have maintained, if not strengthened, unions' rights once they have entered a workplace for the purpose of holding discussions with employees.

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