During EBA negotiations, the key decisions are up to members. ANMF staff and elected officials can make recommendations, but only members can vote.
There are three times during the bargaining process that require a vote:
- Voting to endorse or reject an offer at a members’ meeting
- Voting to take protected industrial action
- Voting to accept or reject an EBA offer in its entirety.
ANMF and your employer will facilitate voting in each case to ensure it is conducted rigorously and lawfully, but only members (whose ANMF and employer details match) can vote. You have the final say.
To have your say, however, it is essential that you participate in these votes.
Voting at members’ meetings
Anytime ANMF receives an EBA offer from an employer, we will present that offer to members at a members’ meeting. This allows for explanation of achievements, or lack thereof; recommendations on next steps; and for questions from members.
A vote (eg: show of hands) will always be held to determine the fate of the offer, which may be that members endorse or reject the offer (see below).
Endorsing an acceptable offer
If members at the meeting determine that the offer is acceptable, this vote will be to endorse the offer for formal voting by all employees who will be covered by the EBA.
Rejecting an unacceptable offer / authorising protected industrial action
If negotiations reach a point where the employer/government won’t support enough of our members’ claims and we cannot recommend the negotiated outcome to members, this vote will likely be to reject the offer.
Members may at this point send the ANMF back to negotiations; they may ask for additional triggers such as a deadline for a new offer; or they may authorise ANMF to apply for a protected industrial action ballot with the aim of achieving a better offer.
Voting to take protected industrial action
This may not always be necessary but if members want to exercise their legally protected right to take industrial action, there are several steps that must be followed – as laid out in the Fair Work Act.
After directing ANMF to apply for a protected industrial action ballot, we will make that application to the Fair Work Commission – the national workplace relations tribunal.
If the Commission approves the application, the next step is a formal, secret ballot of all ANMF members at your workplace, usually conducted electronically via a third-party Fair Work Commission-approved independent ballot agent.
Key for members to know is that for industrial action to be legally protected, at least 50 per cent plus one of eligible members covered by the EBA at each facility must participate in the vote, and more than 50 per cent of those voting must vote YES in favour of the right to take protected industrial action.
Note: by voting YES in a protected industrial action ballot, you are not voting to take action. You are voting to have the legal right to take some, or all, of the industrial action proposed in the event it is needed at a later time.
To vote for, and participate in, protected industrial action, you must be a union member.
Voting to accept or reject an offer in its entirety
If members indicate, via a show-of-hands vote at a members’ meeting, that they are ready to endorse a formal vote on an offer, the next step for members and their colleagues is the access period.
Access period
Prior to the formal vote on the outcome of the offer, eligible employees (all those who will be covered by the agreement) must have a seven-day access period. During this time, the employer is legally required to provide eligible employees a copy of the proposed EBA. This should include both:
- the written text of the agreement, and
- any other material incorporated by reference in the agreement.
During the access period, the employer must also take all reasonable steps to notify eligible employees about the voting process, including the time and place it will occur and the method by which it will occur.
ANMF will also provide summaries of the proposed EBA so that members are clear about what they are voting on.
At the conclusion of the access period, voting can begin.
Voting
Voting is organised by the employer, not ANMF.
If the majority of employees vote to accept the EBA, an application for approval will be made to the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
The Commission will go through every clause of the EBA to ensure that all the legally required steps and processes have been followed and that everything is in order. There is no standard timeframe for this process, and ANMF has no control over how long it might take.
When the FWC approves it, the EBA will become legally enforceable seven days later and its benefits can commence.
Find out more about the EBA process
