The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has upheld the requirement for employers to consult over organisational change under the provisions of enterprise agreements. In an appeal judgement regarding the earlier decision of a single judge, which was handed down in December 2010 (QR Limited v Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia [2010] FCAFC 150), the Full Court noted that more than a quarter of a century had passed since Justice Murphy of the High Court of Australia said in upholding the legitimacy of requirements on managers to consult:

There has been an accelerating trend towards concentration of economic power in fewer and fewer persons. …a reaction to the submergence of the individual worker is the demand by organised workers for some share in deciding what work is to be done, by whom and when, where and how it is to be done. The thrust of the demand is not merely in the improvement of existing pay and conditions. It extends to the protection of jobs, for themselves to be treated as more than wage-hands – to be treated as men and women who should be informed about decisions which might materially affect their future, and to be consulted on them. It is a demand to be emancipated from the industrial serfdom which will otherwise be produced … a demand to be treated with respect and dignity.

While most of our employers understand the requirement to consult, and treat their employees with respect and dignity, there are a significant few who seem to think that they are immune from such responsibilities, and who need to be reminded of them.