Electrolux ruling endorses Bargaining Fee

However, the Full Bench did not directly comment on the merits of a Bargaining Fee clause in an industrial agreement.

The Bargaining Fee concept is that employees who benefit from a union-negotiated industrial agreement, but who are not union members, should make a payment to the union for the service provided.

The case arose from an agreement between the Electrical Trades Union (CEPU) and the whitegoods manufacturer Electrolux.
The ETU union fee is $350 per year, and the Bargaining Fee was set at $500 per year, as an incentive for the employees involved to join the union, and to recognise the union's contribution to their living standards.

The Howard government normally loves the concepts of "user pays" and "mutual obligation", but not when it comes to the workplace. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott is militantly opposed to the Bargaining Fee concept, and is urging the Australian Democrats in the Senate to vote for an amendment to the Workplace Relations Act to outlaw the concept. So far, the Democrats have refused to support the government.

The Bargaining Fee concept is very popular with union members who have always resented free loaders, and it would be a positive measure in strong union areas. However, the application of a Bargaining Fee needs to take account of the broader organising goals of the union movement - to persuade workers to unite and work collectively, rather than one groups of workers to appear to be victimising another, or even worse, for a union leadership to raise finance without organising the workers.

Bureau of Statistics figures for March 2002 show that union members on average earn $99 per week more than non-union workers.