Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise having listened to the contributions of two of my female colleagues in this chamber, from both the Greens political party and the Liberal National Party. I want to acknowledge the importance of democracy, the importance of the voices that are put on the record. I want to acknowledge the challenges of managing a system in terms of access to supports that are necessary. I also want to acknowledge—and I'm very pleased to be the co-chair of the MS support group here, the Parliamentary Friends of Multiple Sclerosis here in the parliament, with Senator Askew—the service that people give in public life.

I have made a decision, since we were last here, that I will commence each of my speeches in this place, until the matter of the Ukraine invasion is resolved, with this statement: I support the people of Ukraine in their defence of their sovereignty and the defence of democracy. We should never underestimate the importance of what we do in this chamber.

I rise this evening to speak to a domestic matter, which is the appalling conduct of the software giant Apple and its absolutely outrageous campaign to keep workers down at a time of unprecedented economic turmoil. Firstly, Apple failed, in recent negotiations about wages, to notify the relevant unions, which are namely the SDA—'the shoppies union' as it's affectionately known—and the ASU. When negotiations started about a proposed EBA they repeatedly refused to give those two unions, representing thousands of workers, enough time to appropriately review the EBA that was being proposed. This is a breach of fundamental duties. Democracy only works with the currency of trust. Sadly, we have seen some of the biggest companies, with the most significant profits, abuse the responsibilities that they have to operate under a social licence in our free economy.

In an even more shocking move than failing to notify, organisers in South Australia were confronted by Apple management and asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. When the organisers, rightly, refused to sign those NDAs they were escorted off the premises. This is absolutely heavy-handed and unnecessary behaviour by a company that purports, in its advertising, to be one of the greatest supporters of people and their capacity, ingenuity and creativity across the globe. The reality is, and this has been voiced by Prime Minister Albanese, that we can move forward and advance this country without conflict. We can actually seek agreement and that is what the Australian people want to see. They want leaders in business and in politics to find ways forward that are less conflicting and more harmonising.

Capital and labour do not have to be in conflict, but when dodgy bosses, as Apple has revealed itself to be in this instance, seek to do the sorts of things they have done to silence critics, to crush workers, to breach good faith protocols and to pay below award wages then the reality is conflict is constructed. In these circumstances unions will stand up and fight back. Workers who show up every day in their workplace—and who are busy just doing their jobs, managing their family responsibilities, supporting activity in their local community—do not have, in many cases, the knowledge or the capacity or the time to take on multinational corporations. Unions are a vital part of effective democracies.

The actions that we've seen by Apple in this instance are extraordinary, especially coming as a modus operandi from a company that took in $366 billion in revenue last year. This is no small to medium enterprise. This is a significant multinational player in the economy. Let me state that again: $366 billion in revenue. That is more than many countries around the world. Of that $366 billion, $11 billion was made in Australia. It disgusts me that Apple is trying to crush the 4,000 workers it has in this country, to diminish or obliterate their rights and, in addition to that, to cover up this union-demonising and union-bashing practice that it has established.

Ridiculous and vindictive union-busting techniques have been imported from other jurisdictions, including the USA, where some enormous employers pay their workers such a pittance that they create a working poor, people who work every hour that they can but for an employer that pays them so badly that they need food stamps in order to eat and to provide the basics of food and shelter for the family. While Apple reaps billions in profits, this sort of egregious, overplayed, aggressive stance against the workers of this nation cannot be allowed to go without comment. Frankly, it is un-Australian behaviour, and we should never have a bar of that. It's very clear that Labor stands with these workers at Apple. The union movement is fighting for the rights of the workers not only to organise, which is a basic right, but also to bargain for a fair deal in a way that allows their representatives through the union to participate for them in a meaningful way and not at the last moment after days or weeks of deception. Having a below-inflation pay rise, a lack of rostering protections and a high threshold for overtime is neither right nor fair. No decent Aussie could ever endorse such action.

This matter is currently in the hands of the Fair Work Commission, who will determine whether Apple's conduct is unlawful or not, but it is clearly unethical. We need wages to grow in the country and multinationals to pay their workers a living wage. Corporations need to pay attention to their social licence to practise business in Australia, and with inflation rising, we need to look out for the sort of dodgy EBA we're seeing in the case of Apple being rammed through that will push workers and their families even further behind.

I also want to note that two leaders of the SDA, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union, which is the union for retail workers, fast-food workers and warehouse workers, have been in the parliament today. They have been making sure that people are aware of the legal action being taken by the union against McDonald's. Most recently they've been using section 540 of the Fair Work Act to secure compensation for workers who were allegedly denied their lawful 10-minute breaks at over a thousand current and former sites by the fast-food giant. Many Australians would have known McDonald's as their first employer, and they do employ a lot of 14-year-olds and those aged 14 and nine months. The reality is that the SDA has been investigating and raising members' awareness about not receiving their legal entitlement to paid rest breaks since 2017. With a workforce of over 107,000 people and with 1,010 restaurants, McDonalds is one of Australia's largest employers. You'd think they would be able to get the systems right. After all, they can have two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun and the right number of pickles and the right amount of sauce will go on. They should also be able to pay their workers their right entitlements by law. There shouldn't be a trade-off—get the bun right; get the wages wrong. No. They should be getting the wages right. Labor is on the side of workers, and the union is standing up for this group of people, who really deserved a whole lot better from a company that is placed right across this nation in every community. I will be keeping an eye on this case and making sure that Australian workers get a fair go. (Time expired)

Senate adjourned at 22:19