Member

Amendment 215DA addresses a serious imbalance in the current drafting of the Bill and raises critical questions about what it really means to be pro-worker. The purpose of these provisions, we are told, is to prevent employers subverting the trade union recognition process by strategically recruiting new employees after an application has been made. That is a fair concern, and no one disputes the need to prevent bad-faith conduct. However, in seeking to prevent one abuse, we must not create another. As the Bill is currently drafted, all new employees who join a proposed bargaining unit after an application—regardless of motive or context—can be excluded from the process, whether it be access rights or voting in the recognition ballot.