Unions NSW argued in its submission to the Jobs and Skills Summit that non-union employees should pay bargaining fees when covered by union-negotiated pay deals.
The submission noted that while 30.7 per cent of private sector workers benefit from workplace pay deals, just 9.5 per cent of private sector workers are union members.
This indicated “high levels of free riding, which is a critical contributor to wage stagnation, inequality and collective bargaining decline”, it said.
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of workers who were paid according to pay deals struck after a union balloted to take industrial action, are not members.
Unions NSW proposed a charge on free riders capped at 70 per cent of yearly union dues and “only payable if the benefit to the worker from the enterprise agreement is higher than this amount”.
It pointed out that bargaining fees are allowed in New Zealand, the US, Canada and South Africa but are banned in Australia.
Unions NSW also argued in its submission, for a requirement for employers to pay skilled workers sponsored from overseas 30 per cent above the industry median.
Unions NSW secretary, Mark Morey, told The Guardian that a higher pay floor would both “stop exploitation” of migrant workers and incentivise business to “engage in skills training for local workers”.