Findings:
In light of the summarised likely effects of the change, and the case study above, the following findings are made regarding the changes to union access.
That the changes to union officials’ access rights were not strongly sought by peak employer groups, and were strongly opposed by peak union groups.
That the “representation gap” theory shows that knowledge about unions and how to access them is a key barrier to workers being able to choose whether to join a union.
That the changes to union access may be used to deny, delay or restrict union officials’ access to worksites.
That the changes to union access rights will have a strong negative impact on the ability of workers in non-unionised sites to have access to union officials, and to join unions.
That the reduced ability to join unions will weaken workers’ ability to negotiate better pay and conditions of employment, and thus to address class inequality of power.