INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

‘We will cause misery’: vengeful Setka stands over AFL

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 12-Jun-24

The Construction, Forestry & Maritime Employees’ Union has called for the dismissal of the AFL’s head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney. The CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka says the union will not pursue outright strike action, but it is prepared to impose a "work to rule" campaign on league-related construction projects while McBurney remains in his role. He adds that this will result in delays and cost over-runs on projects such as the new AFL stadium in Hobart. McBurney is the former head of the Australian Building & Construction Commission, which actively targed the CFMEU over breaches of workplace laws prior to its abolition after Labor took office in 2022.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BULK ALLIANCE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Unions push for total ban on non-competes

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-Jun-24

The federal government is reviewing the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts, amid growing concern that they have become too prevalent. The issue will be on the agenda for the ACTU’s upcoming triennial congress, and the union movement will push for a blanket ban on the use of these clauses. ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell says post-employment restraints are having a "chilling" effect on the labour market. However, economists favour imposing restrictions on the use of these clauses instead of a total ban, arguing amongst other things that they are needed to protect the intellectual property of business start-ups.

CORPORATES
ACTU

Balancing act on minimum wage as low paid get 3.75pc

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Jun-24

Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher says the cost-of-living pressures facing people who are reliant on modern industry awards was a key factor in its decision to increase the minimum wage by 3.75 per cent. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the decision will deliver a small real wage increase to the 2.6 million workers on award rates and the minimum wage, although she is disappointed that the FWC has deferred a decision on the peak union body’s push for an additional wage rise of four per cent for workers in female-dominated sectors. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox in turn warns that workers on low wages will be at greater risk of unemployment and underemployment due to the ruling. The minimum wage will increase by $33 per week to $915.90 from 1 July.

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

Business chief warns ACTU wage push will add to inflation

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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

Four-day week for Woolworths workers

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 8-May-24

The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association has backed a proposal to enshrine the right to a four-day working week in a new enterprise agreement for Woolworths employees. The proposed deal would allow full-time staff to compress their 38-hour working week into four shifts comprising 9.5 hours each. Bernie Smith from the SDA says staff who opt for a four-day week would be required to work up to four weekend shifts over a four-week period. The enterprise agreement will cover about 130,000 workers, who will vote on the proposed deal in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

Agreement nears on doubling leave

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Apr-24

The Fair Work Commission is considering a proposal that would insert the right into industry awards for greater flexibility in terms of paid time off, with the possibility that staff could double their leave by taking half of it at half pay. Unions and employer groups are understood to be in agreeance that the right to request leave at half pay should lie with the employee rather than the employer, but Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says it is essential that such arrangements are by agreement, given that employers may find it hard to accommodate longer staff absences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Staff shared around in first multi-employer deal

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Apr-24

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has struck the first multi-employer agreement in the private sector since the federal government’s industrial relations reforms were enacted. The in-principle deal with air-conditioning manufacturers is also said to be the first enterprise agreement that allows employers to use a shared labour pool during peak periods. This will require an employer to offer extra work to the permanent staff of other companies that have signed the new agreement. However, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has expressed concern about such workplace arrangements.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Bosses should give union delegates iPads: CFMEU

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 3-Apr-24

The CFMEU’s construction division has urged the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum rights of union delegates in the building industry award. The CFMEU has used its FWC submission to call for all union delegates on construction sites to be given access to employer-funded office facilities, including a telephone, a table and chairs, and an iPad with internet access. The CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith contends that union delegates would use iPads to undertake compliance and safety checks on construction sites. The proposal has been criticised by employers’ groups.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Cap rise in wages: small business

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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

Penalty rates for WFH outdated

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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