EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Bosses demand clause ban on CFMEU

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Oct-24

The CEOs of four construction-related employers’ groups have joined forces to urge the federal government to remove certain clauses from enterprise agreements. The clauses in question includes ones that give the CFMEU a right of veto over the use of subcontractors and require subcontractors to be paid the same as those engaged by the head contractor. Amongst other things, the letter to Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt calls on the government to ban the Fair Work Commission from approving any enterprise agreements that include the clauses.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

ACTU takes sledgehammer to economy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Oct-24

Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black has urged the federal government to reject the ACTU’s push for further changes to industrial relations laws. They include abolishing junior pay rates, extending the minimum standards for gig-economy workers to freelancers and scrapping non-compete clauses. Black says businesses are still contending with the most recent tranche of IR reforms, and any further changes would boost inflation and stall economic growth if they are not linked to productivity.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU

Business chief warns ACTU wage push will add to inflation

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 22-May-24

The Australian Industry Group estimates that the ACTU’s push for a five per cent increase in the minimum wage would cost $7bn a year. The AiGroup says its own proposal for a 2.8 per cent minimum wage rise would cost just $3.8bn. CEO Innes Willox says the ACTU’s wage claim would boost inflation, cost jobs and ensure that interest rates stay higher for longer. ACTU president Michele O’Neil in turn contends that the peak union body’s proposed minimum wage rise would not be inflationary; she adds that workers’ real wages will go backwards if the Fair Work Commission grants the small increase that has been advocated by employers’ groups.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Supermarket hit could rock us all

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jess Malcolm, Geoff Chambers, Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 4 : 9-Apr-24

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry has expressed reservations about any push to make the food and grocery code of conduct mandatory rather than voluntary. ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar has responded to the release of Craig Emerson’s interim report on his review of the code of conduct by warning that excessive regulation could have "unintended consequences". Amongst other things, Emerson has recommended fining supermarkets up to 10 per cent of their turnover for breaches of the code. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has described Emerson’s inquiry as a "Mickey Mouse review conducted by a Labor mate"; Emerson is a former federal Labor minister.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Cap rise in wages: small business

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Apr-24

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has used its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review to call for the minimum wage increase to be restricted no more than three per cent. COSBOA has argued that the minimum wage and award rates should be increased in line with the Reserve Bank’s inflation target of 2-3 per cent. The group notes that labour costs represent at least 40 per cent of some small businesses’ overall operating costs, while the sector is also facing increased energy, rent, insurance and supply-chain costs.

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

5pc minimum wage rise would keep rates high

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 27-Mar-24

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry wants the Fair Work Commission to limit the annual minimum wage rise to no more than two per cent. The employers’ group contends that inflation is expected to fall to three per cent, productivity is declining and the FWC has overcompensated for inflation in previous minimum wage decisions. The ACTU in turn is seeking an above-inflation minimum wage increase of five per cent, which ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar says would ensure that interest rates remain high. He adds that wage costs are still a problem for small and medium enterprises, and a large increase in the minimum wage would have an impact on hiring decisions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU

ACTU’s 5pc wage push sets up showdown

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Mar-24

The ACTU will use its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review to call for an above-inflation increase of five per cent. This would increase the minimum wage to $24.39 an hour, or $48,200 a year. ACTU secretary Sally McManus contends that workers on the lowest pay are hardest hit by inflation, and they need a pay rise of five per cent to make up for the real wage losses over the last several years. The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry will in turn push for the minimum wage to be increased by no more than two per cent, following a large rise in both the minimum wage and award wages in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Penalty rates for WFH outdated

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Mar-24

Key employers’ groups have used submissions to the Fair Work Commission’s review of industry awards to opposed providing employees with a general right to work from home. However, the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Australian Industry Group have argued that overtime and penalty rates should not apply to remote workers who opt to work in the early evening to ‘make up’ for time lost during ordinary working hours, such as to attend to personal needs such as picking up their children from school.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

More IR changes make bad bill worse

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 29-Nov-23

The federal government tabled 81 amendments to its Closing Loopholes Bill in the lower house on Tuesday. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox and Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable have expressed concern about some of the amendments, with the latter contending that they will broaden the union movement’s powers with regard to the ‘same job, same pay’ provisions. However, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has described the amendments as "practical reforms".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ALP divides to conquer on IR

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Nov-23

The federal government has struck a deal with the Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association to exempt service contractors from the labour-hire provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill. It follows week of negotiations between Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke and AREEA, whose CEO Steve Knott has been a vocal critic of the proposed reforms. The amendments to the bill mean that the Fair Work Commission will not be able to make labour hire pay orders if a business is providing a service to a client rather than supplying labour. The government has previously agreed to changes to the bill following talks with the Australian Hotels Association and gig economy platforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY EMPLOYER ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION