Appeals made to multi-employer bargaining decision

Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC), Peabody Energy and Ulan Coal Mines, a subsidiary of Glencore, have announced intentions to appeal the Fair Work Commission decision that forces companies into multi-employer bargaining.

In 2022, amendments made to the Fair Work Act ruled that competing businesses that mined the same commodity in the same state had a ‘common interest’ that required them to be forced into multi-employer bargaining.

These companies, which are members of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), have filed a joint application to the Federal Court to overturn this ruling.

This appeal aims to restore the right to negotiate enterprise agreements specific to operations rather than being forced into an industry-wide framework.

A decision from the Fair Work Commission marked a significant shift in Australia’s industrial relations framework, requiring companies to participate in joint bargaining for up to 12 months.

According to the MCA, “Forcing businesses into industry-wide arrangements, regardless of their operational differences, exposes them to industry-wide industrial action and reduces their competitiveness in an already challenging global environment.”

The MCA supports Whitehaven Peabody and Ulan in the challenge to the decision and will work closely with members to ensure Australia’s industrial relations framework remains competitive, stable and supportive of growth.

“Despite initially providing assurances that miners would not be impacted, the Federal Government’s outdated multi-employer bargaining laws are now set to drag the industry back to the flawed ways of the past and put future jobs and investment at risk,” a statement from Whitehaven read.

“The return of multi-employer bargaining adds to the range of punitive policy interventions in the mining sector that make it substantially harder and more costly to do business,” it continued.