The impact on public sector bargaining of the implied constitutional limitation on Commonwealth interference with State governments is still not well enough understood, according to CPSU SPSF Group Federal and Victorian Secretary Karen Batt.  Batt, who last year became the union's longest-serving Victorian secretary after 20 years in the role says the "rise of constitutional arguments" and their application to public sector employment is the biggest change that has occurred during her tenure.  Government bargaining, she told Workplace Express, is now intrinsically linked with arguments over the operation of s5 of the Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009 (the Referral Act), the High Court's landmark Re AEU and Victoria v The Commonwealthjudgments in 1995 and 1996.  A Fair Work Commission full bench last month ruled that Fair Work Act provisions requiring state governments to consult with unions over proposed redundancies are unconstitutional.  Meanwhile the United Firefighters Union is awaiting the result of its Federal Court appeal against Justice Bernard Murphy's finding that clauses in an enterprise agreement that require the Country Fire Authority to employ a specified number of additional firefighters are invalid because of Re AEU.  "I think this is something that is often misunderstood when people look at the Fair Work Act.  When it involves government employees there are a whole range of other considerations," she said.
"Our members want the same bargaining rights as all other workers."  Reproduced with the permission of Workplace Express.  Thanks to David Vincent and author Sophie Arnold