Victoria Lambropoulos

Greening Australian Workplaces: Workers and the Environment

The genesis of much environmental pollution including greenhouse gas emissions comes from the activity of workplaces. Restructuring existing workplaces and investing in energy efficient capital is an important part of finding solutions to global warming and other environmental problems. The United Nations Environment Programme (‘UNEP’) 2007 report, Labour and the Environment: A Natural Synergy, provides important guidance in relation to how to engage workers in the process of transitioning to a carbon-lean economy. UNEP’s recommendations are premised on the belief that worker involvement in the decision-making process by employers and company management should be central to the transition. The UNEP report recommendations include the following. Firstly, encourage the use of enterprise bargaining to include ‘green friendly’ clauses in enterprise agreements that address the environmental impact of the workplace. Secondly, use existing occupational health and safety (‘OHS’) laws and expand the role of structures set up by these laws such as health and safety representatives to promote workplace environmental standards. Thirdly, use corporate social responsibility (‘CSR’) principles to complement the previous two measures. This article will examine these recommendations in the context of Australian law.

The evolution of freedom of association in Australia's federal industrial relations law: from trade union security to workplace rights

The early provisions protecting freedom of association in Australian federal industrial relations law supported trade union security. The interests of individuals were seen as adequately protected by collective groups. This principle dominated the industrial relations laws from 1904 to the mid-1970s. However, from the late 1970s, the laws were incrementally altered to promote freedom of choice and the rights of individuals not to be part of trade unions. The reframing of the laws also reflected changes in the wider Australian community, manifested particularly in the decline of union density rates. These changes were also part of an international trend, favouring the ideology of neoliberalism which contributed to an unsympathetic environment for trade unions. The current Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) has signalled a return to collectivism, although freedom of choice is at the heart of the laws rather than the promotion of collective groups. In the absence of legislative support promoting the viability of collective groups, this freedom to choose is threatened, leaving many workers with little choice but to disassociate.