Definitive Report - Report No 241, November 1985

1. 375. The World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) presented a complaint of violations of trade union rights against the Government of Australia/Northern Territory in communications dated 21 March and 7 May 1985. The Administrative and Clerical Officers' Association, AGE (ACOA), the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Australian Public Service Association (4th Division Officers) (APSA) sent similar complaints in communications dated, respectively, 23 April and 7 June, 9 May and 11 June 1985. The Government replied in a letter dated 26 August 1985.
2. 376. Australia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.087), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No.098); it has not ratified the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151).

A. The complainants' allegations

1. 377. In its letters of 21 March and 7 May 1985, the WCOTP alleges that the Government of Australia/Northern Territory has undertaken reprisals - in the form of suppression of the check-off system - against lawful industrial action by its affiliate, the Northern Territory Teachers' Federation (NTTF). The WCOTP explains the background to this action as follows: on 15 August 1984 the NT Government unilaterally decided to alter housing arrangements for teachers and other public servants; one meeting took place on 24 August with the Government but the Housing Minister and Treasurer announced that the NT Government would not move from its new position; on 28 August the NTTF and eight other public employees unions staged a one-day strike to press for negotiations on the issue; since no negotiations ensued the NTTF recommended to its members, on 27 September, a series of bans on extra-curricular activities, designed not to affect the provision of teaching services during school hours; after one school excursion had to be cancelled, the NTTF was informed on 11 October 1984 that payroll deductions would cease unless industrial action stopped the next day; on 12 October the NTTF was told that the cessation would take place with effect as from next pay day i.e. 19 October; on 24 October the bans were lifted since a meeting to commence discussions with the Government had been arranged; on 1 February 1985 the NTTF met the NT Minister of Education who refused to discuss the restoration of the check-off.
2. 378. According to the WCOTP, the rapidity with which government action was taken left no time to work out alternative methods of collection of membership dues. It points out that the NTTF was paying an agreed amount for the service of payroll deductions (over A$9,000 per annum). It considers that the cancellation of the check-off seriously impairs the conditions in which its affiliate carries on its work, particularly in view of the geographical circumstances of the Northern Territory where a sparse population is served in areas remote from the capital city, Darwin. Since nearly all NTTF members paid their subscriptions in the form of payroll deductions, the immediate effect of the removal of this system was a drop in membership from 1,860 to 56. The WCOTP explains that, through an alternative service agency, the NTTF has been able to regain membership dues for some 1,300 members but it fears that the NTTF will suffer financially from the withdrawal of payroll deductions and be impaired in its functioning and programmes. Given the employer's continued refusal to negotiate this issue, there is a risk of deterioration in the relationship between the NTTF and the Government.
3. 379. In its communications of 23 April and 7 June 1985, the ACOA explains that its members were also affected by the NT Government's unilateral change in public servant housing arrangements and, along with many other unions, joined in the 24-hour strike of 28 August and later joined in the work bans, which affected overtime, ministerial correspondence etc. The Government withdrew payroll deduction facilities for ACOA and APSA members on 20 September 1985 (after only two days' warning) but not from the other unions. The work bans were lifted on 24 September 1984 but the Government has maintained its refusal to reinstate the check-off. The ACOA states that this has placed severe financial pressure on itself and the other unions involved, particularly because they operate in some of the remotest areas of Australia where it is impossible to collect union subscriptions by any means other than payroll deductions. The ACOA points out that it has 1,341 members in the NT, which reflects a fall of 80 since the withdrawal of the check-off.
4. 380. The ACTU, in its letter of 9 May 1985, supports the complaint of the NTTF because it considers the NT Government's action as a reprisal to lawful industrial action and as a hastily used weapon. Given the serious adverse effect of the withdrawal of the check-off on the financial and organisational ability of the unions involved and the refusal of the employer to discuss its restoration, the ACTU believes that this action is an attempt by the Government to weaken a legally registered workers' organisation.
5. 381. The APSA, in its communication of 11 June 1985, also supports the NTTF's complaint.

B. The Government's reply

1. 382. In its letter of 26 August 1985, the Government explains that the NT Government's decision to withdraw payroll deduction of union dues on 19 October 1984 took place against a background of continuing industrial action by NTTF, ACOA and APSA members in protest over the Government's budgetary decision to alter the housing and accommodation policy and practice as from 1 August 1984. According to the Government, despite a number of meetings in September with the Treasurer and the Public Service Commissioner after which the NT Government announced a change in its original decision in order to protect public servants on low incomes, the industrial action continued. Payroll deductions were discontinued on 20 September and the ACOA and APSA lifted their bans on 24 September. On the other hand, NTTF members continued their bans on all non-teaching activities, upon which the Education Department decided to cease its payroll deduction facilities as of 12 October (effective 19 October); teachers' industrial action only ceased on 24 October.
2. 383. The Government stresses that the check-off was discontinued only after a period of warning, and did not apply to all NT workers' organisations originally involved in the dispute (i.e. only to the NTTF, ACOA and APSA). It also points out that in August 1979, in another matter, the ACOA had sought an injunction in the High Court of Australia restraining the cessation of payroll deductions on the grounds of breach of contract; the Court had dismissed the claim as evidence from the documents indicated that the facility resulted from the making of an administrative agreement.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 384. The Committee notes that the issue in this case concerns the withdrawal of check-off facilities in response to continuing industrial action by public employees' unions. It recalls that it has examined analogous allegations against the Government of Australia in the past. (See 204th Report, Case No. 902, paras. 135 to 147.) In that case, the Committee stated that the withdrawal of the check-off facility, which could lead to financial difficulties for trade union organisations, was not conducive to the development of harmonious industrial relations and should therefore be avoided. The Committee considers that the same principle applies to the present case.
2. 385. The Committee also notes the on-going refusal of the NT Government to discuss the possible restoration of the check-off facility with the unions concerned. It expresses the wish that efforts will be made by the parties, on the basis of an agreement, to restore the check-off facility previously available to the unions.