INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

ABCC pursues workers on strike over union flags

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

The Australian Building & Construction Commission is prosecuting 66 members of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union for engaging in unlawful industrial action. It is alleged that they failed to return to work after a meeting with CFMMEU delegates at a construction site in Brisbane. Amongst other things, the meeting is said to have discussed the issue of union flags being removed from union sites. The CFMMEU and its officials are not subject to the legal action. The workers each face a fine of up to $42,000.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, ACTU

At $200k, celebrity chef got off lightly

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 22-Jul-19

Attorney-General Christian Porter says that amongst other things, the federal government’s review of the industrial relations system will look at whether the penalties for underpaying wages are sufficient. He says many Australians would agree with his opinion that the $200,000 fine to be paid by celebrity chef George Calombaris was lenient. More than 500 employees at Calombaris’s restaurants were collectively underpaid some $7.8 million over six years. The ‘MasterChef’ judge says the majority have now received backpay.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Celebrity chef underpayments triple to $7.8m

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

The Made Establishment restaurant business of celebrity chef George Calombaris will pay staff more than $7.8 million in back pay under an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman. The amount is more than triple the $2.6 million that Made Establishment had estimated in 2017 that it might owe, while it will also pay a fine of $200,000. Unions have criticised the modest fine, while Hospo Voice union leader Orlaith Belfrage, who worked for Calombaris’s Hellenic Republic restaurant, says he should be taken off reality-TV program ‘Masterchef’.

CORPORATES
MADE ESTABLISHMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, HOSPO VOICE

Signs that wage rise pick-up is under way

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Jul-19

A number of large Australian companies have struck new enterprise agreements which include pay rises that are higher than the current level of wage growth. Some employers in sectors such as retailing and fast food are seeking to increase wages in line with the latest increase in the minimum wage. Meanwhile, Andrew Hanson of recruitment firm Robert Walters says the outlook for the economy and business conditions during the first half of 2019-20 means that more highly-skilled employees are unlikely to receive a significant pay rise.

CORPORATES
ROBERT WALTERS PTY LTD, McDONALD’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HUNGRY JACK’S PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, BWS – BEER WINE SPIRITS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Kelty: cut the top tax rate

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-Jul-19

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty warns that Australia’s income tax system will remain uncompetitive unless there is broader reform than the federal government’s tax cuts package. Kelty argues that any reforms to the tax system should be in response to the demands of the future, negating Labor’s view that the stage-three tax cuts should have been put on hold due to uncertainty about the economic outlook in five years’ time, when they are slated to take effect. Kelty also says Australia’s top marginal income tax rate is too high, and changes to the enterprise bargaining system are needed.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

CFMEU battles developer of Adelaide tower

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Jul-19

The militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union alleges that property developer Kyren Group prevented union organisers from entering a building site to investigate workplace safety issues. The CFMMEU claims that the company’s actions constituted ‘unlawful picket action’ under laws introduced by the Coalition in 2016. The union’s statement of claim in the Federal Court also alleges that the site manager’s behaviour made the organisers feel ‘intimidated and threatened’.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, KYREN GROUP, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ACTU goes after Qantas over bonus

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-Jun-19

The ACTU will lodge legal action against Qantas in the Fair Work Commission on 24 June over its payment of employee bonuses. The ACTU will allege that the airline is discriminating against employees on collective agreements, in that it will only pay a $2,000 bonus once employees sign on to Qantas-endorsed enterprise agreements; the ACTU notes that some collective agreements do not expire until late 2020. Former Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford noted at its 2018 AGM that the same conditions applied to its last three bonuses.

CORPORATES
ACTU, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Watchdog to get tough over worker rip-offs

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 3-Jun-19

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker says the agency will make greater use of enforcement tools as part of its crackdown on employers that underpay their staff. Parker adds that businesses which self-report non-compliance to the FWO should also expected to face penalties, noting that there has been an increase in self-reporting in recent times. Meanwhile, Parker has identified sectors such as fast-food restaurants, cafes, horticulture and franchising as priorities for the FWO in 2019-20.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Minimum wage will rise 3 per cent to $740.80 a week on Fair Work ruling

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Original article by Stephanie Chalmers
abc.net au – Page: Online : 31-May-19

The ACTU has described the Fair Work Commission’s decision to increase the minimum wage by three per cent as a "win" for low-paid workers. The minimum wage will be increased to $19.49 an hour, or $740.80 per week, but the peak union body says it is still not a living wage. The ACTU had sought a six per cent increase in the minimum wage, after it rose by 3.5 per cent in 2018. The latest Wage Price Index data shows that annual growth in wages is currently about 2.3 per cent.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

TWU set to bring chaos to airports

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-May-19

The Transport Workers’ Union will begin serving claims for improved wages and conditions on Australia’s major airports in the week beginning 21 May. It will then start to lodge claims with major road transport companies. TWU national secretary Michael Kaine says it has spent the last five years aligning 200 enterprise agreements covering 38,000 workers to expire in 2020, so as to maximise the impact of its bargaining efforts, including the right to legally strike.

CORPORATES
TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY