The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) celebrates the win around the judicial review into the delegates’ rights clause in the Modern Award.
Today the Federal Court has quashed the Fair Work Commission’s determination inserting a delegates’ rights term into several Modern Awards, including the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 and the Building and Construction General On-Site Award 2020. This means the delegate’s rights term in those Awards will be removed.
The Court has directed the Commission to create a new clause.
AMWU National Secretary Steve Murphy said the earlier determination to the delegates’ rights clause watered down delegates’ rights, and this goes some way to fixing it up.
“This is a victory for shop floor union delegates. The union movement backs our delegates,” said Mr Murphy.
“We are most effective when we communicate and organise on the ground with members.”
“Our delegates are on the front line. This outcome removes the conflict for delegates around their rights,” said Mr Murphy.
The proposed delegates’ rights term within the Modern Award limited the ability of delegates to communicate to members in their workplace and constrained their ability to represent members on the ground, compared to the Fair Work Act.
“Our delegates are now better protected and better able to represent and communicate with the AMWU at their workplace,” said Mr Murphy.
“The previous determination significantly restricted union members from communicating with a legitimately elected delegate.”
“There’s more work to be done to protect delegates’ rights, and we’ll be talking to our delegates and members on the ground to achieve greater safeguards for these important elected roles in our workplaces,” said Mr Murphy.