Employers call union’s win over McDonald’s ‘deeply disappointing’

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) has labelled the recent union win for collective bargaining over McDonald’s as “deeply disappointing”, believing it highlights the pitfalls of the government’s multi-employer bargaining measures.

Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox has hit out at the FWC’s recent decision to allow the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) to bargain on behalf of thousands of workers across multiple South Australian McDonald’s franchises to improve their pay and conditions.

The decision – which was heavily disputed by the global fast-food giant – gives the SDA the go-ahead to bargain on behalf of more than 5,100 workers operating across 18 South Australian McDonald’s franchises.

“This is a landmark win for low-paid fast food workers in Australia,” said SDA South Australia secretary Josh Peak.

“The fast-food industry has the highest proportion of award-reliant workers in the country, these workers deserve to be covered by enterprise agreements.”

What unions have viewed as a “David and Goliath” victory has been characterised by Willox as a “deeply disappointing” decision.

“The decision highlights the risk for thousands of employers in the fast food, retail, hospitality and many other sectors of being dragged into multi-employer bargaining by unions against their will and without the support of the majority of their employees,” said Willox.

“This includes many small businesses that are struggling to survive in the current difficult trading environment.

“The union-friendly supported bargaining stream was intended to operate in sectors where the employers and employees need a lot of support to bargain, typically because of the government-funded nature of those sectors. This is the first time that a supported bargaining authorisation has been issued outside of a government-funded sector.

“Many hundreds of enterprise agreements have been made in the fast-food industry, and there is no reason why the main enterprise bargaining laws should not apply, including the requirement for a union to establish that the majority of employees support the negotiation of an enterprise agreement.”

Willox and Ai Group urged the federal government to introduce urgent amendments to the Fair Work Act, which they hope will tighten the scope of the supported bargaining scheme.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Chris Rodwell agreed with Willox’s assessment.

“This decision raises serious questions about the threshold for supported bargaining and whether the stream is being applied more broadly than Parliament intended,” said Rodwell.

“Small-business operators in fast food and retail are already facing significant cost pressures and economic uncertainty. This decision heightens the prospect of those struggling businesses being drawn into multi-employer negotiations without a majority of employee support, [which] is deeply concerning.”