Resources groups blast Federal Court decision to defy Fair Work Commission by expanding union delegate powers

Mining and energy groups have warned that a Federal Court ruling on union delegates creates a two-tiered workplace class — those who “actually work” and those who do “whatever they please”.

A Federal Court decision on Wednesday has effectively given workplace delegates the same rights on site as union officials, meaning employers would be forced to pay their own employees for organising industrial action against them instead of working.

“The laws create unprecedented new powers for unions, risk turning employees into de-facto union organisers, and apply across all workplaces, including non-union sites with no enterprise agreements,” Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association chief executive Steve Knott said.

“They blur the long-standing distinction between union officials and workplace delegates and create serious risks for productivity and workplace stability.

“The separation between the roles and responsibilities of union officials and workplace delegates (had) been well established and understood by industrial parties since Federation.”

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable said the court’s ruling has overturned the Fair Work Commission’s orders that placed “reasonable limits on the exercise of union delegate powers”.

“The decision shows that the Federal Government’s Closing Loopholes legislation gives unions significantly more power than what the independent umpire determined was a fair and reasonable balance,” she said.

“As well as being an over-reach of union power, this would create a two-tiered class system among Australian workers: those who actually work for the business, and those who work for the union but get paid by the business to do so — enshrining the rights of some workers to do whatever they please, with businesses powerless to stop them.

“Australian mining companies are already feeling unprecedented cost pressures, including from industrial relations changes, mounting energy prices, lengthy and costly project approval delays and increased royalties — driving investment offshore to low-cost jurisdictions with poor environmental and emissions standards.”

Mining and Energy Union general secretary Grahame Kelly said the court’s decision means that delegates’ rights “cannot be confined by artificial employment boundaries”.

“The court has confirmed that Parliament intended workplace delegates to have real, enforceable rights to represent workers they work alongside, not just those who happen to share the same employing entity,” he said.

The Albanese Government overhauled Australia’s industrial relations laws since sweeping to power in 2022, which has emboldened the union movement. The country’s biggest mining employers have warned that productivity is at record lows.