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Statutory Union Recognition in North America and the UK: Lessons for Australia?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Chris Briggs
Chris Briggs*
Affiliation:
Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
*
*Any correspondence should be directed to c.briggs@econ.usyd.edu.au.
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Abstract

Should the Australian labour movement pursue a system of statutory union recognition? The experiences of the UK and Canada illustrate that such a system can address some of the worst breaches of freedom of association under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth). However, the influence on union density and collective bargaining coverage is likely to be modest. It may also constitute a structural impediment to multi-employer bargaining, boxing unions into a system of fragmented bargaining, and results are sensitive to institutional design so there could be serious consequences if the system was re-engineered towards the US model in the future.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 77 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2007

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