A great bill

ACT announced:

Employers will no longer be obligated to automatically deduct fees from union members’ pay if a bill lodged in Parliament’s ballot by ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar is drawn and passes.

“Currently, the Employment Relations Act makes employers responsible for separating union fees from wages and salaries, and passing those fees on to the relevant union. This is an administrative burden, imposed by law, apparently intended to tilt the playing field in favour of unions at the expense of businesses,” says Dr Parmar.

“ACT believes union membership is a private agreement between a worker and a union. If a union wants to take fees from workers’ wages, that union should be responsible for the administrative process.

I agree absolutely. Unions should be given contact details of those who fall under a collective contract, and arrange directly with that worker for an AP or DD for their membership fees – as every other NGO has to do.

It will actually improve good unions, by incentivising them to be more responsive to their members.