IBM agrees to negotiate with union

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 17:57

IT Industry - Strategy

In a statement issued late this afternoon, computing giant IBM said it will engage in good faith bargaining with the Australian Services Union.

IBM's application to Fair Work Australia for a stay order against a decision handed down last month, which obliged it to begin good faith negotiations with the union, was rejected yesterday.

The statement issued this afternoon states that: 'IBM will continue to engage with the Australian Services Union as required under the Fair Work Act, including the requirement to bargain in good faith.'

The union's dispute with IBM has been underway since 2007, with IBM previously resisting the ASU's attempts to negotiate on behalf of a group of 80 IBM employees working at IBM's Baulkham Hills offices, North West of Sydney, who provide service and support to IBM clients including Westpac, St George, Qantas and the Federal Government.

With the introduction last year of the new industrial relations regime, the ASU had challenged IBM's anti-union stance with Fair Work Australia, launching an action against the company last November.

In a decision handed down in April, senior deputy president Drake of Fair Work Australia, made it clear that IBM's employees would be covered by the modern award, the Business Equipment Award 2010.

This will be one of the first times that the company has negotiated with unions representing its employees anywhere in the world.