Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, , 7:04:01 to 7:08:35
Senators explore hypothetical scenarios where union organizers recommend specific labor hire companies to contractors and whether such actions constitute corrupting benefits or undue influence.
Topics: Workplace relations, Integrity, Procurement
Speakers: Senator Maria Kovacic, Murray Furlong, Unknown Speaker
No record. So if I give you some context around and if you could give me, and then obviously not referencing this particular scenario, um, my understanding is that the allegations suggests that um the individual was uh engaging in conduct where he was taking around um someone from unite recruit um and suggesting to organisations that um that the union had a relationship with unite recruit and that he was recommending that unite recruit be hired on particular sites, would that constitute behaviour that would or what wouldn't be acceptable?
Talking hypothetical, so there's some limitations.
Correct, yeah.
Um depending on the nature of the conduct associated with that recommendation, if Mr. Oslock was to receive a benefit.
Yeah, any individual.
Any individual was to receive a benefit for recommending or applying coercion duress influence.
And this suggests um influence. Yes, then at the very least.
Uh then it could be perceived as a corrupting benefit.
Yeah.
Um and there's further if it relates to um enterprise bargaining as well, which is a a different scheme. There are obviously obligations and requirements around that. Now I might just hand it to Mr. Core to see if there's anything you'd like to add here.
Yeah. Um so yeah, just to give you some and I can table it. There is um a page from the website from that organization which actually notes specifically um that they are unite recruit describes itself on the website as CFMEU aligned and EBA compliant. So I'll just table that now. Or circulate that now, sorry, Chair. I'll get it right. Oh, you don't have a copy? Oh, okay. So if there was a circumstance where you had an organiser from the CFM EU that was taking an individual from this organization around with them and um suggesting to contractors that they should be hiring somebody from here, um would that constitute um a problem under the current circumstances in terms of undue influence?
It's it depends on the case of the circumstances. That in and of itself recommendation from an organiser to a um to say, hey contractor without any corrupting benefit without them receiving any benefit. Um but if there is a an employer labor high company out there that is absolutely meeting all of their obligations under an enterprise agreement and the union is satisfied that they are saying EBA compliant from the perspective of paying their workers what they're entitled to and they're not engaging in sham contracting or other sort of uh unlawful legal fencing activity or other sort of conduct that associated with some labour hire or other sort of entities in and around the construction industry in and of itself, the a recommendation would not pose.