INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

South32 warns of strike risk if ALP wins poll

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 18-Feb-19

South32 CEO Graham Kerr is concerned that Labor’s workplace reform agenda could lead to increased industrial action, particularly in the resources sector. He says the outcome of the upcoming federal election could affect business confidence for at least 12 months. Kerr notes that stability of supply is a major priority for buyers of Australia’s metallurgical coal buyers. He adds that if supply is disrupted they will source coal elsewhere, and it is very hard to regain a customer’s trust once it has been lost. Employers’ groups are also concerned about any move to reinstate industry-wide bargaining.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, TAHMOOR COAL PTY LTD, CENTENNIAL COAL COMPANY LIMITED, WOLLONGONG COAL LIMITED – ASX WLC, PEABODY ENERGY AUSTRALIA COAL PTY LTD, PORT KEMBLA COAL TERMINAL LIMITED

Leak came from union watchdog

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 15-Feb-19

Senator Michaelia Cash is due to give evidence in the Federal Court on 15 February in a case brought by the Australian Workers’ Union. She is expected to be asked to respond to allegations by her former chief-of-staff Ben Davies that he was tipped off about an Australian Federal Police raid on AWU offices by former Registered Organisations Commission media adviser Mark Lee. The AWU contends that a ROC investigation into donations made by it to GetUp and Labor leader Bill Shorten is "politically motivated" and legally invalid.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Small business faces $8bn holiday pay hit

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Feb-19

Labor’s motion to disallow the Fair Work Amendment (Casual Loading Offset) Regulations is expected to be debated by the Senate on 2 April. The Coalition moved to clarify the status of casual workers via regulation in late 2018 in response to the WorkPac case, in which the Federal Court ruled that casual workers are entitled to annual leave in addition to a casual loading. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has urged parliament to reject the disallowance motion, warning that it would threaten the viability of many small businesses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WORKPAC PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Pizza Hut ushers in penalty rates after Fair Work ruling

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Feb-19

Pizza Hut Australia employees will be moved to the industry award after the Fair Work Commission agreed to terminate an enterprise agreement that had expired in 2012. The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association had applied to have the agreement terminated in 2017, after Pizza Hut failed to increase its pay rates in line with a 3.3 per cent rise in the minimum wage in 2016. Under the expired workplace agreement, penalty rates had been traded off for a seven per cent increase in base hourly wage rates.

CORPORATES
PIZZA HUT AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP

Merivale reviewing viability due to EBA determination on wages

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 22-Jan-19

Employees of hospitality group Merivale will be shifted to the industry award after the Fair Work Commission terminated an enterprise agreement that had been struck in 2007. Merivale’s submission to the FWC had warned that some of its business practices may not be viable under the industry award, and that some employees may need to be reclassified as a result of the ruling. About 71 per cent of Merivale’s employees are casuals, who did not receive penalty rates and overtime pay under the enterprise agreement.

CORPORATES
MERIVALE GROUP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNITED VOICE

Fair Work warning over anti-CFMEU retweet

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 18-Jan-19

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an appeal by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union over a ruling of senior deputy president Jonathan Hamberger. The CFMMEU claimed that Hamberger should have recused himself from a case involving three union officials after he shared a 2016 tweet from Employment Minister Michaelia Cash that attacked the CFMMEU and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. The FWC stated that Hamberger’s sharing of the tweet did not mean he was biased against the union’s officials, but it did state that his actions in sharing the tweet were inappropriate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Labor backs FWC boss over new members

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Jan-19

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson says the Fair Work Commission’s new deputy presidents should be given the same duties as their colleagues, including deciding cases. FWC president Iain Ross recently advised that the five Coalition appointees will initially only handle relatively minor matters such as conciliation work. Shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor has supported Ross’s stance, but a spokesman for Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says all FWC members should be involved in duties such as conciliation work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

No criminal charges for anyone implicated in leaking information in AWU raids case

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Original article by Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 15-Jan-19

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions believes that there is little chance of securing any convictions over media leaks regarding raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in October 2017. An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman says that as there is no prospect of criminal charges, the investigation into the affair will be discontinued. The senior media adviser to former Employment Minister Michaelia Cash resigned over the leak, although Cash herself denied that her office had any knowledge of the leak.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Ports, mine targeted in CFMEU hit

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jan-19

Hutchison Ports Australia will be subject to industrial action by the militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union. Work bans will commence on 17 January, in response to the stevedoring group’s push to reduce pay rates and leave entitlements under a new workplace agreement. Hutchison will apply for an order from the Fair Work Commission requiring the union to give five days’ notice prior to launching the industrial action. Meanwhile, CFMMEU members at the Wongawilli Colliery in New South Wales have voted to extend strike action for a second week.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, HUTCHISON PORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOLLONGONG COAL LIMITED – ASX WLC, JINDAL STEEL AND POWER LIMITED, CAS MINE SERVICES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Fair Work boss sidelines Coalition appointees

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 15-Jan-19

The federal government appointed six new deputy presidents to the Fair Work Commission in late 2018. Such appointees traditionally hear full bench cases, but FWC president Iain Ross has told members of the commission that most of the deputy presidents will only handle relatively minor matters such as conciliation work. The majority of the new appointees have an employer background, which prompted Labor to accuse the government of "stacking" the FWC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS’ ASSOCIATION, NSW BUSINESS CHAMBER LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS LIMITED, CORRS CHAMBERS WESTGARTH