In our previous blog, Chris Gardner and I explained why in our
view, if the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill was made law, it would
spell the end of single-enterprise bargaining. We said this would
happen because many employers would be roped-in or otherwise
pressured to join multi-enterprise deals, resulting in
industry-level enterprise agreements much like industry awards.
More fundamentally, we made observations on the impact on
competition, which have since been echoed in numerous forums.
On Wednesday this week, The Hon Tony Burke MP, the Minister for
Employment and Workplace Relations, gave a speech to the National
Press Club in which the Minister prosecuted his case for the Bill.
The Minister explained the Government's intentions in leaving
the single-enterprise stream in the Bill. The Minister said (and
this is a direct transcript hence the errors):
