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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 4 Hansard (27 March) . . Page.. 966 ..
MR BERRY (continuing):
public relations campaign, anyway-notwithstanding their concern for the people they serve. So, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, do not listen to the arguments from the government and others about the likelihood of Mr Berry's amendment creating industrial turmoil. What this does is level the playing field and provide a range of involvements for the Industrial Relations Commission.
Let us deal with the industrial relations issue first. The powers of the commission are explicit. Under section 170MW of the Workplace Relations Act, the power of the commission to suspend or terminate a bargaining period is specific. Mr Moore has predicted that if this amendment is passed nurses will be involved in industrial action and they will try to put the frighteners on everybody. The Workplace Relations Act is tough on industrial action. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will quote from section 170MW of the legislation:
(1) Subject to subsection (8), the Commission may, by order, suspend or terminate the bargaining period if, after giving the negotiating parties an opportunity to be heard, it is satisfied that any of the circumstances set out in subsections (2) to (7) exist or existed.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will try to paraphrase this because I do not want to read the whole section of the act. I am sure it will become clear to members what the effect of the act is. Subsection (2) (a) states:
did not genuinely try to reach an agreement with other negotiating parties before organising or taking the industrial action; or
Industrial action is not industrial action just for workers, you know. It is also, under this act, industrial action which is available to the bosses. The bosses can lock people out, as they have done. So protected industrial action is available to both parties. I am suggesting that the government will do that, and it is wrong for the government to suggest that the nurses are going to walk out on strike.
It is made clear in the act that if there is no genuine attempt to reach an agreement, the commission has the power to terminate the bargaining period. There are a range of other situations and I will read a couple of them:
(b) is not genuinely trying to reach an agreement with the other negotiating parties; or
(c) has failed to comply with any directions by the commission that relate to the proposed agreement or to a matter that arose during the negotiations for the proposed agreement; or
And so on. Subsection (3) provides:
A circumstance for the purposes of subsection (1)-
that is, the termination of a bargaining period-
is that industrial action that is being taken to support or advance claims in respect of the proposed agreement is threatening:
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