Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 348, November 2007

Case No 2326 (Australia) - Complaint date: 10-MAR-04 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 35. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2006 meeting [342nd Report, paras 21–24]. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to initiate further consultations with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned in the building and construction industry in order to explore their views on all of the matters raised in the Committee’s recommendations so as to ensure that the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act), is in full conformity with Conventions Nos 87 and 98. The Committee also referred the legislative aspects of this case to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
2. 36. In a communication dated 14 September 2007, the complainant Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) sent additional information on the alleged harsh measures contained in the BCII Act against construction workers and their unions in continuing deterioration of compliance with Conventions Nos 87 and 98.
3. 37. In its communication dated 18 April 2007, the Government indicates that consultations took place with representative employers’ and workers’ organizations on 12 December 2006. The consultations comprised representatives from the ACTU, which is the complainant in this case, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the Master Builders’ Association (MBA). The Government forwarded a copy of the minutes of the consultations.
4. 38. In a communication dated 13 July 2007, the Government provides an analysis of the national conditions which led to the adoption of the BCII Act. These conditions include a series of legislative reforms aimed at generating a shift toward workplace bargaining (adoption of the Workplace Relations Act in 1996 and the Work Choices Act in 2006), the fact that the building and construction industry is a major one in terms of employment and contribution to Australia’s national output (reason for which industrial action in that industry has been seen as liable to cause more harm to more people than similar action in other industries), and finally, the findings in 2003 of a Royal Commission into the building and construction industry which depicted a culture of lawlessness in the building and construction industry. The Government also provides an overview of the examination of the case by the Committee in which it indicates that the recommendations made at its November 2005 meeting were interim and non-binding.
5. 39. The Government indicates with regard to the Committee’s recommendation of consultations with the social partners, that in addition to the consultations which took place on 12 December 2006, the Australian Government encourages all building industry participants to share their views, on an ongoing basis, about issues affecting the industry. For instance, the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner conducts an industry forum every six months which is designed to encourage discussion between building industry participants. The National Workplace Relations Consultative Council also provides a regular and organized means by which senior representatives of the Australian Government consult with employers’ and workers’ organizations on workplace relations and labour market matters of national concern. The ACTU, ACCI and MBA all have representative members on this Council.
6. 40. The Government finally refers to the ACTU submission of October 2006, which had been addressed by ACTU to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations with regard to the conformity of the BCII Act to Conventions Nos 87 and 98, and in which the Government largely maintains its previous position on this matter. Finally, in a communication dated 1 November 2007, the Government states that it is in caretaker mode pending general elections on 24 November and is therefore unable to respond to the most recent submission of the ACTU. The Government assures that it will bring the submission to the attention of the incoming government for reply.
7. 41. The Committee takes due note of the minutes of the consultations held in December 2006 between the Government and the social partners with regard to the Committee’s recommendations on this case and requests the Government to provide its observations on the additional information provided by ACTU in its communication dated 14 September 2007. Noting from the minutes and the Government’s communication on the legislative aspects of this case that, in respect of the matters raised by the Committee in the previous examination of this case, the parties appeared to maintain divergent positions, the Committee requests the Government to continue to initiate further consultations with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations in the building and construction industry with a view to building a common understanding over ways to ensure that the BCII Act is brought into full conformity with Conventions Nos 87 and 98 and to keep the Committee informed in this respect.
8. 42. The Committee would like to emphasize in this regard that contrary to the Government’s impression that the Committee’s recommendations, reached at its November 2005 meeting, were interim and therefore non-binding, the Committee reached final conclusions and recommendations which are to be implemented fully and promptly following consultations with the social partners with the same due consideration the Government accords to all the obligations it has freely undertaken by virtue of its membership in the Organization [see 346th Report, para. 79].