INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Get a real job (for once) O’Connor, instead of fiddling with commission

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Original article by Judith Sloan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 20-Feb-18

A proposal by the Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor to transfer responsibility for setting the minimum wage from the Fair Work Commission to the Federal Government was ill-considered. There is some merit in having the minimum wage set by the independent umpire, which takes into account factors such as the state of the economy. It should be noted that people on low incomes are most at risk of being retrenched or having their working hours cut if an increase in the minimum wage is excessive. Likewise, many people on the minimum wage are in fact from wealthy households.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Federal agencies to dodge union deals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Feb-18

Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd says smaller government agencies are most likely to ditch enterprise agreements under the Coalition’s new policy on public sector bargaining. It allows departments and agencies to opt for alternative workplace arrangements such as common law employment contracts. Lloyd notes that unions tend to have greater influence on workplace negotiations in larger agencies, where enterprise agreements will most likely continue to prevail. The new policy has been criticised by Labor, which has raised the spectre of a return to the WorkChoices era.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Do not resuscitate: enterprise bargaining deserves a burial

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Original article by Judith Sloan
The Australian – Page: 12 : 6-Feb-18

The enterprise bargaining system is largely defunct in Australia, with the exception of the public sector and a few private companies. The proportion of employees covered by enterprise agreements has been declining since it peaked in 2010, while the proportion of workers covered by industry awards has risen from 15 per cent to around 25 per cent since then. The Federal Government should pursue reforms such as ensuring that enterprise agreements are no longer allowed to continue beyond their expiry date, because it is almost certain that Labor will seek to revive enterprise bargaining if it wins the next election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION INCORPORATED

Union living wage an $8bn hit on bosses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Feb-18

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry estimates that the ACTU’s proposal for a "living wage" would cost between $A5bn and $A8bn a year. The ACCI’s Scott Barklamb warns that fixing a living wage at 60 per cent of the median wage by 2020 would require annual increases in the minimum wage that are double the 3.3 per cent rise announced by the Fair Work Commission in 2017. He adds that the living wage proposal would result in job losses and could threaten the viability of some businesses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Builders facing bans for displaying Eureka flag

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Feb-18

The Australian Building & Construction Commission says construction firms may be ineligible to tender for federal government projects if workers display union slogans or logos on employer-issued clothing and equipment. The revised national construction code, which was released in 2016, includes more strict restrictions on displaying union-related logos and slogans than the 2013 code. Dave Noonan of the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union says the ABCC’s "anti-union ideology" has not changed since Stephen McBurney replaced Nigel Hadgkiss as commissioner.

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

Living-wage bid could be death of businesses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Feb-18

Scott Barklamb of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says small businesses in particular would face a big increase in wage costs if a future government adopted the ACTU’s proposal for a "living wage". The Federal Opposition has indicated that it may consider permanently setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage, although it has not specified what this would be. The ACTU’s target for a living wage is 60 per cent of the median wage, and Workplace Minister Craig Laundy says implementing this target would force many businesses to close.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, THE WORLD BAR

Domino’s wage deal voted up

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-Feb-18

Some 89 per cent of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises employees who participated in a ballot have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement. The new pay deal, which is the pizza chain’s first in about five years, includes full penalty rates and casual loading for the first time. The enterprise agreement had the support of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association, although the Retail & Fast Food Workers Union was against some aspects of the new pay deal.

CORPORATES
DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION INCORPORATED

Glencore ends $700pw strike bonus

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 31-Jan-18

Glencore will seek to terminate the enterprise agreement at its Oaky Creek coal mine in Queensland in a bid to end a long-running union dispute. Some 175 union members have been locked out of the site for more than 200 days, but a clause in the enterprise agreement requires them to receive the productivity bonuses that are paid to employees and contractors who have defied the picket line. It is believed that some picketers have been paid up to $A700m per week in productivity bonuses.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Strike action almost extinct

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 1 : 30-Jan-18

A report produced by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work shows that there has been a 97 per cent decline in industrial action since the 1970s. The author of the report, Jim Stanford, says the sharp decline in industrial action has contributed to the low growth in wages over recent years. However, Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson argues that a range of other factors affect growth in wages, while ACTU secretary Sally McManus says Stanford’s report highlights the need for industrial relations reform.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Labor’s Fair Work plan insane

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Jan-18

Australian Mines & Metals Association CEO Steve Knott has criticised the Federal Opposition’s proposal to give Fair Work Commission more power to arbitrate industrial disputes. He argues that the FWC is already dominated by former union officials and Labor supporters, adding that it would be "insanity" to give it more power. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the FWC’s existing powers to intervene are sufficient.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU