INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

CFMEU will take years to rebuild: Watt

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jul-24

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt says the allegations that the CFMEU’s construction division has links to organised crime are "shocking and seriously disturbing". Watt adds that addressing the issue is a top priority for the federal government. Watt also says the government is prepared to legislate to ensure that several branches of the CFMEU’s construction division are placed in administration. Meanwhile, Watt has criticised Coalition MPs for claiming that the CFMEU’s links to organised crime were well-known, questioning why the Coalition did nothing about the issue while it was in office.

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

Unions unleash part-time IR battle

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jul-24

The Fair Work Commission will commence a review of part-time employment in 2025. FWC president Adam says it will examine daily and weekly minimum hours of work for part-time workers, and the circumstances in which working hours may be altered. Meanwhile, the union movement will seek restrictions on part-time employment. This includes minimum shifts of four hours for such workers; at present some awards provide for minimum shifts of no more than two hours for part-time and casual workers. Unions will also push for a requirement that part-timers receive 28 days’ advance notice of rosters changes, and that any such changes must be made with mutual agreement.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Union fury at Nine chief’s torch run amid jobs row

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 3 : 24-Jul-24

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has criticised Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby for attending the Paris Olympic Games during enterprise agreement negotiations at its publishing division. The union is seeking a pay rise of 20 per cent over three years for employees of the division, and Nine’s staff have voted to take strike action for five days from Friday, which will coincide with the start of the Games. Sources have indicated that Nine’s journalists were also not impressed by footage of Sneesby participating in the Olympic torch relay, given that the division is expected to shed about 90 jobs as part of a broader restructuring program at Nine.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

Powerful new laws to break up the CFMEU

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jade Gailberger
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 3-Jul-24

The Senate has voted 46-10 to pass a bill which will allow the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to hold a ballot on demerging. The Greens voted against the bill, which had been fast-tracked in response to threats by the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka to launch a "work to rule" campaign on future AFL-related construction projects unless the league sacks its head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney. However, shadow employment minister Michaelia Cash has described the legislation as a "minor slap on the wrist" to the CFMEU in response to Setka’s "outrageous bullying demands".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Miners win same pay for same job

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 2-Jul-24

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that labour hire workers at Batchfire Resources’ Callide coal mine in Queensland are entitled to the same pay as directly-employed workers who are covered by an enterprise agreement. Mitch Hughes from the Mining & Energy Union contends that WorkPac employees at the mine are currently paid between $10,000 and $20,000 less than direct employees. The FWC’s ruling is the first to be made via the federal government’s ‘same job, same pay’ industrial relations reforms. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says the ruling means that the "labour hire loophole is officially closed".

CORPORATES
BATCHFIRE RESOURCES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, WORKPAC PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

CFMEU condemns ALP’s demerge laws

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Jun-24

Federal government legislation that will allow the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge is expected to be passed by the Senate with the Coalition’s support. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says many members of the division do not feel properly represented by the CFMEU, including workers in female-dominated industries such as textiles. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith has doubled down on his warning that the proposed laws would set a dangerous precedent that could be used by a future government to break up unions.

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

Labor moves to break up CFMEU after Setka stoush

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jun-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke will introduce a bill to parliament next week to enable the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge. The proposed legislation will allow the division to apply to the Fair Work Commission to leave the construction-dominated CFMEU. The federal government has been prompted to push ahead with the bill in response to demands from the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka for the AFL to sack its head of umpiring due to his former role as head of the defunct Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMEU’s mining division has previously demerged to form its own union.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Setka threat to AFL may be unlawful

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 14-Jun-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says the CFMEU’s proposed work-to-rule campaign against the AFL is likely to constitute unlawful industrial action. Steven Amendola, a partner at law firm Kingston Reid, adds that the threat of industrial action unless the AFL agrees to sack head of umpiring Stephen McBurney could breach adverse action laws; he also suggests that the threat could potentially fall within Victoria’s blackmail laws. The CFMEU’s John Setka contends that the proposed action is not unlawful as construction workers will simply adhere to their regular hours and not work overtime or on rostered days off.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, KINGSTON REID

Union launches BHP same pay challenge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 13-Jun-24

The Mining & Energy Union has filed 10 applications in the Fair Work Commission to increase the wages of BHP’s labour hire workers under the federal government’s ‘same job, same pay’ laws. The initial applications cover about 1,700 workers at three of BHP’s coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin who are employed by WorkPac, Chandler McLeod and BHP’s own Operations Services subsidiary. The union is pushing for these workers to receive pay rises of between $10,000 and $40,000 in order to achieve pay parity with BHP’s direct employees. The MEU is expected to make further applications against BHP.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, WORKPAC PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED

Weak PM, Allan blamed as Setka loses plot over AFL

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jun-24

The AFL has expressed support for its head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney, amid threats from the CFMEU to launch a ‘work-to-rule’ campaign on league-related construction projects unless he is sacked. McBurney is the former head of the Australian Building & Construction Commission, and the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka has described him as ‘anti-worker’. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the CFMEU is "out of control" and accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being too weak to stand up to a "union bully". The Victorian Opposition has in turn criticised Premier Jacinta Allan for failing to condemn the union’s actions.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET