The bargaining position or process
74 The respondents first submit that the representations alleged in the SOC are not, in terms, 'about' Murdoch's current 'bargaining position' at all, but are 'about' what might happen should an enterprise agreement be made in future. They submit that there is no link to the first 'workplace right' pleaded, which is the exercise of a 'workplace right' to 'develop' and 'present' various 'bargaining positions': s 341(2)(k) of the FW Act.
75 Paragraph 31(d) of the SOC is said to be a representation 'about' the 'exercise' of the Murdoch's workplace right to 'participate' in enterprise bargaining: see SOC [10(a)], via [20], [29] and [35]. Regarding this paragraph, the respondents submit that there is no workplace right to 'participate' in enterprise bargaining per se. The relevant employer right protected by s 341(2)(e) is the right to 'make' an enterprise agreement. Given the legislative scheme, the respondents submit that can only sensibly refer to the employer's right to propose an agreement, under s 181. It cannot extend to everything an employer does in the course of negotiations.
76 Second, they submit that even if (contrary to the above submission) there were a workplace right to 'participate' in bargaining in a general way, a misrepresentation would only be caught by s 345 if it is 'about' the 'exercise' of that right, specifically. They claim that, here, the representation is about the quality of Murdoch's participation, not whether it exercised its claimed right to 'participate' in bargaining.
77 I consider this ground lacks cogency. It also proceeds on a particular statutory construction of the provisions extracted above which, for the following reasons, is incorrect.
78 There is a 'process' recognised under the FW Act which can be described as 'enterprise bargaining'. It is a phrase used in industrial law since the early 1990s, in relation to the process of negotiating and making enterprise-based agreements to regulate terms and conditions of employment (instead of awards): R Naughton, The Shaping of Labour Law Legislation: Underlying Elements of Australia's Workplace Relations System (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2017) at [3.68]. It is now fully regulated by the FW Act as to its commencement, participation in and cessation.
79 This is the process or proceeding under a workplace law, within the meaning of s 341(2)(k) of the FW Act, about which Murdoch alleges the respondents made representations.
80 In April 2016, Murdoch has participated in the enterprise bargaining process. I accept that, in doing so, Murdoch has exercised a workplace right.
81 The alleged participation amounts to developing and presenting bargaining positions on particular subject matter to the respondents and its employees, as well as making concessions/agreeing to certain claims.
82 As to the word 'about', the various impugned representations are 'about' Murdoch's bargaining positions, and hence, 'about' Murdoch's participation in the bargaining process. Contrary to what the respondents submit, Murdoch exercises the relevant workplace right by 'participating' in the process of enterprise bargaining. The representation needs to be 'about' Murdoch's participation in the process of enterprise bargaining. That process will include any concessions Murdoch has made in that process.
83 The respondents' attempt to distinguish the quality of participation from the act of participating itself is not apt to inform what is the workplace right found in the legislation.
84 The respondents submit in the alternative that, even if the representations are 'about' the bargaining positions, there is no mandatory statutory obligation to 'develop' or 'present' bargaining positions under Part 2-4 of the Act. Therefore, they submit, there is no protected statutory 'process' and no 'workplace right' under s 341(2)(k) of the FW Act.
85 I do not accept this ground.
86 As I have outlined above, the process of enterprise bargaining falls within the meaning of 'process under' the FW Act, and by developing and responding to bargaining positions in that process, a party is participating in that process. In light of that, this alternative submission cannot stand.
87 The respondents submit that, even if the development of 'bargaining positions' is a 'process' under the FW Act, the only 'workplace right' protected by s 341(1)(b) is, relevantly, the 'ability' to 'initiate' that process. They contend that the representations are not 'about' the Murdoch's ability (legally or practically) to develop bargaining proposals or whether the proposals were, or were not, made. Instead, the respondents claim that the representations are about the content of the bargaining proposals which would take them beyond the purview of s 345. They submit that this is also the case in relation to [71(b)] which they claim is 'about' the manner of Murdoch's exercise of the right pertaining to the 'ability' to bargain.
88 The respondents also make this submission in relation to [75], which they claim is not 'about' the exercise of that workplace right but is 'about' the state of mind of Murdoch, and the objects it was pursuing or, alternatively, was an expression of opinion.
89 I do not accept this submission. The respondents again adopt, without foundation, a very narrow construction of the word 'about'.
90 It is accepted by Murdoch, correctly in my opinion, that, by initiating the proceedings in this Court, Murdoch exercised its workplace right to initiate court proceedings under the FW Act. In response to initiating those proceedings, the second respondent pleaded, in the representation set out at [71(b)], that Murdoch's claims in those proceedings were 'totally baseless', thereby representing that Murdoch had no reasonable foundation for its claims.
91 The respondents now submit that a representation about the strength or weakness of claims made in proceedings initiated cannot even arguably be a representation about the initiation of those proceedings. This contention also assumes a particular view of the evidence which might ultimately be led. I accept Murdoch's submission that until the second respondent gives evidence and is cross-examined, the Court cannot properly assess the extent to which this was an opinion, nor on what basis it was offered.
92 I also accept the submission that the fact that the Fair Work Commission can by way of bargaining order, require bargaining representatives (such as Murdoch) to:
(a) attend and participate in meetings;
(b) respond to proposals made by other bargaining representatives; and
(c) give genuine consideration to the proposals of other bargaining representatives and provide reasons for responses to those proposals,
provides ample support for the proposition that putting forward bargaining proposals (and responding to those of others) is participation in the bargaining process: ss 228(1) and 231.
93 Finally, the respondents submit that, even if the representations did fall within s 345, the effect of the FW Act would be to allow the courts to enforce 'truth in bargaining', with the 'truth' as to bargaining claims (usually highly contestable) to be resolved by the courts after protracted and expensive litigation. The respondents also make this submission in respect of the representation in [71(b)], which they contend is an expression of opinion, not one of fact to which s 345 applies.
94 They submit that inquiring into the falsity of such representations would be a radical departure from the history of enterprise bargaining, in which the courts have played no such role: the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) (WR Act) contained no equivalent to s 345.
95 This submission involves significant overreach.
96 None of the cases which have considered s 345 of the FW Act, have raised this specific contention.
97 Further, the respondents are incorrect in claiming that the predecessor legislation did not contain an equivalent provision to s 345 of the FW Act. There have been earlier equivalents, each of which directly related to 'truth in bargaining' and each of which have involved the Courts 'policing truth in bargaining'.
98 A telling example is s 401 of the post-WorkChoices WR Act. The distinction between s 401 of the WR Act and s 345 of the FW Act is that, under s 401 of the WR Act, the false or misleading statements had to cause the employees to make or approve the agreement. The causal element has now been removed: Explanatory Memorandum, Fair Work Bill 2008 at [1398]. As with the s 345 FW Act cases, several s 401 WR Act cases concerned what may be described as 'truth in bargaining' cases.
99 In conclusion, I accept that the workplace right is to participate in the enterprise bargaining process and, further, the impugned representations are about that process.