Unions want right to approach non-members at work in bid to bolster numbers   

Brisbane times
March 5, 2024

Union delegates would have the right to approach colleagues to recruit them as members under an ACTU bid that could boost numbers in industries with low membership following Labor’s recent workplace reforms.

The Coalition has accused the union movement of a desperate attempt to increase its membership off the back of fresh legislation – which a key workplace law expert said gave unions a foothold in workplaces where they had little to no presence – sparking debate about the scope of the new delegates’ rights.

ACTU says all employees should be able to approach union representatives to discuss their rights.   


The first part of the government’s Closing Loopholes legislation was passed in December. It mandated the inclusion of delegates’ rights in modern industry awards covering roughly 2.5 million workers, entitling union representatives to act not only for members but for workers eligible to join as well.

As part of the Fair Work Commission’s awards overhaul to include delegates’ rights, the Australian Council of Trade Unions wants a model clause included for all industries that includes a right to “communicate with persons eligible to be union members about joining the union”.

An ACTU spokesperson said all workers should have the chance to talk to a workplace representative about their rights.

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“Workplaces where workers’ voices are heard are safer, more productive and have less conflict,” the spokesperson said. “This is what the new rights for delegates in the Fair Work Act are all about.”

Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said freedom of association meant Australians had a right “not to join or to join a union”.

“Unions don’t need any further legislated power to potentially pressure workers to join up. This is another desperate attempt by the unions to bolster their dwindling membership numbers,” Cash said.



The latest published data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, published in August 2022, says 12.5 per cent of Australian employees are union members, down from 51.6 per cent in 1976.

Jessica Tinsley, director of workplace relations at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the recent legislation states delegates are only entitled to reasonable communication with employees about their industrial interests.

“Industrial interests should be tightly defined, constraining reasonable communication to disputes, bargaining, discipline and performance, and consultation about major workplace change or changes to rosters or hours of work,” Tinsley said.

“Communication solely about joining the union clearly falls outside the scope.”

The December legislation prompting the commission’s award variation also requires delegates to be given paid time off to receive training on their role, among other protections given to representatives.

University of Adelaide professor Andrew Stewart, who advised Labor on the original 2009 Fair Work Act, said the legislation expanded the remit of delegates by giving them the power to represent potential members’ industrial interests as well.

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“In some instances, depending on the union, it might be a small number of people; in some cases, it might be a large number of people,” he said. “It’s not going to surprise me if we end up with a bit of a fight over how widely this right applies.”

Stewart said the reforms didn’t automatically mean membership was going to rise.

“We know over past decades that’s been a very tough sell, but the foothold this new right gives to unions gives them a platform from which to make the case,” he said.

whiteknight wrote on Mar 6^th, 2024 at 3:34am:

Nothing wrong with it at all, but the approach, discussion etc., should be in the employee’s own time and off the employer’s premises, or during breaks if allowed on the premises.
Having a discussion with the delegate should not be an excuse for a smoke or an on the side cuppa.