The ACT Government's changes to occupational health and safety laws passed yesterday after heated debate.
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The Greens and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said the shake-up to workplace health and safety laws unfairly removed the right of unions to launch third-party prosecutions against employers.
States and territories have been amending their occupational health and safety laws under a push, led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, to ''harmonise'' the way workplace safety is treated nationwide.
While ACT unions will lose the right to launch third-party prosecutions on behalf of workers, that right has been retained in NSW. Barry O'Farrell's Government tried to remove the right of unions to launch lawsuits when it took office, but the Opposition, Greens and Shooters' Party united to retain the right of unions to prosecute employers.
In the ACT, only the Greens opposed the removal of this clause.
However, when it became clear late yesterday they would have no support from the Government or Liberals for their push to amend the laws, the Greens supported Labor's amended laws.
The Government says unions will still have the right to launch common-law lawsuits, and it made the changes only reluctantly, to bring the ACT's laws into line with new national harmonisation laws.
Greens industrial relations spokeswoman Amanda Bresnan said harmonising occupational health and safety laws would guarantee consistency in most matters across state borders.
The Liberals voted against the laws after failing to have a range of amendments to the Bill passed.
Liberals industrial relations spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said the legislation ''violates workers' rights and imposes even more red tape and huge penalties on businesses''.
