Pallas,who is also the state’s Industrial Relations Minister,said he intended to take his concerns to the Senate crossbench.
As Victoria negotiates with paramedics threatening industrial action over their enterprise bargaining agreement,Pallas wrote to Burke on Tuesday,calling on him to change several proposed amendments to workplace laws.
He said had the “most concerns” about extra protections given to workers when the Fair Work Commission is arbitrating in a deadlock between staff and employers,specifically a new clause that requires new terms to be no less favourable to workers than under an existing agreement.
“The “no less favourable test” as supported by you in the Bandt amendments removes the incentive for unions to reach an agreement as they know that they will be no worse off on a clause by clause basis as against a current enterprise agreement,” Pallas said in the letter,which was also sent to the Australian Council of Trade Unions and key business groups.
“The amendment also seems at odds with how bargaining works – that is,that it’s a package and during the course of bargaining trades offs are considered and made. The Bandt amendments treat bargaining as if it’s a clause-by-clause process and each clause stands alone.”
The Greens pushed for the amendment to intractable bargaining laws to ensure workers couldn’t be disadvantaged by employers intentionally slowing down negotiations to trigger arbitration.