COLLECTIVE LABOR AGREEMENTS – VICTORIA

Melbourne ports dispute set to escalate

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 24 : 20-Mar-18

Qube Ports wants the Fair Work Commission to terminate an enterprise agreement for dock workers in Melbourne, but the Maritime Union of Australia has warned of further industrial action if Qube succeeds. Workers at Qube’s terminal in Melbourne have staged a 48-hour strike and imposed work bans, and the MUA’s Warren Smith says workers will not return to work if the FWC terminates the enterprise agreement. Qube has rejected the MUA’s push to reinstate a 2014 roster whereby employees worked for seven weeks and had one week off, arguing that it is uneconomic.

CORPORATES
QUBE PORTS, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MIRRAT, ACTU

Mates rates

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Original article by Matt Johnston, James Dowling, James Campbell
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Mar-18

Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade staff will shortly vote on a new enterprise bargaining agreement that features a pay rise of 19 per cent and a range of allowances. Amongst other things, MFB firefighters will be entitled to 65 days of annual leave each year, plus 99 days of personal and sick leave after being at the MFB for at least two years. MFB employees will also be entitled to four days of leave each time a family member becomes ill or injured. The EBA allows many existing MFB policies to be abolished unless the United Firefighters Union agrees to them following consultation.

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Power chaos looms amid union row

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-May-17

The Victorian Government has intervened in the long-running dispute over enterprise agreement negotiations at AGL Energy’s Loy Yang power station. The Government will seek an order from the Fair Work Commission to prevent the Electrical Trades Union from launching industrial action. AGL had warned that safety considerations would force it to shut down the power station from mid-May if workers went on strike. Loy Yang supplies more than 40 per cent of the state’s electricity.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

CFA launched bid to shut down trial

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 13-Oct-16

Victoria’s Country Fire Authority wants to halt a case in the Supreme Court. The case was launched by the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria, which argued that the CFA’s proposed enterprise agreement with the United Firefighters Union had a number of deficiencies. The CFA says the passage of the Federal Government’s CFA legislation makes the case irrelevant.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADES VICTORIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Union leader denies threats of violence

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Aaron Patrick, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-Sep-16

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews triggered a political crisis when he decided to give the union more influence over the Country Fire Authority. The Volunteer Firefighters Association Victoria took the matter to the Supreme Court. Jane Garrett resigned as Emergency Services Minister in June 2016 as she did not agree with Andrews’ tactics. She was allegedly bullied by United Firefighters Union leader Peter Marshall who was reported as telling Garrett "I am coming to get you" and "you’re all f—ing dead".

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION VICTORIA, VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADES VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Questions over IR judge’s role in CFA row

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 8-Aug-16

The role of Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross in the Victorian Country Fire Authority dispute is under scrutiny. Former CFA board member and farmer Michael Freshwater has questioned whether Ross acted impartially in the dispute over an enterprise bargaining agreement. He has written to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash requesting an independent inquiry. There have been suggestions that despite being a state issue, the CFA dispute may have affected Labor’s chances of winning the federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, EAST GIPPSLAND LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE COUNCIL, VICTORIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE AND REGULATION, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Flame out: Labor Left union brawl cost Shorten the election

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 36 : 5-Aug-16

The Australian Labor Party lost one Victorian seat in the 2016 federal election, although it had expected to win at least two. Party insiders downplay the impact that the Country Fire Authority dispute had on Labor’s federal election prospects, although Veterans’ Affairs Minister Dan Tehan says the dispute ensured that the Coalition was returned to office with a one-seat majority rather than the election resulting in a hung parliament. United Firefighters’ Union secretary Peter Marshall does not believe that the CFA dispute had any impact on the election result.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE, VICTORIAN BUILDING INDUSTRY DISPUTES PANEL, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

CFA bosses all aboard

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Original article by Matt Johnston
Herald Sun – Page: 13 : 20-Jul-16

The Victorian Government will be able to press ahead with plans to impose a contentious enterprise bargaining agreement on the Country Fire Authority, after confirming the last four appointments to its board. The Government had sacked the previous board due to its opposition to the EBA, amid concerns that it represented a takeover of the CFA by the United Firefighters’ Union. The last four appointees are CFA nominees, although the Government’s nominees dominate the new board.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALASIAN FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES AUTHORITIES COUNCIL LIMITED

Burn the votes

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Original article by Ellen Whinnett, Rob Harris, Annika Smethurst
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Jul-16

There is concern within the Australian Labor Party that the dispute over union control of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority may cost it the federal election. Labor must win 21 seats nationwide in order to win the election, but it now seems unlikely to win the Victorian marginal seats of Dunkley and Corangamite due to the CFA dispute. Some federal Labor MPs have criticised the handling of the dispute by Premier Daniel Andrews, with federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also expressing dissatisfaction with the state government’s actions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE AND REGULATION, GALAXY RESEARCH PTY LTD

CFA deal pushed back until after poll result

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-Jun-16

The board of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority (CFA) has decided to delay the implementation of the United Firefighters Union’s enterprise agreement until 8 July 2016. The State Government insists that the CFA board must accept the agreement. Volunteer firefighters have raised objections to a number of provisions in the agreement. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the Coalition will prevent the implementation of the deal if it is re-elected.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET