INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

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

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

Penalty rates for WFH outdated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

WFH curbs for public servants

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 8-Mar-24

Employees of more than 70 federal government agencies have now endorsed a sector-wide enterprise agreement that removes all caps on the number of days they can work from home. However, Assistant Public Service Minister Patrick Gorman has emphasised that government employees will still require approval from their agency to work from home, and notes that some frontline public sector jobs simply cannot be done remotely. The new enterprise agreement also includes a pay rise of 11.2 per cent over three years and better parental leave entitlements.

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Unions want right to approach non-members at work in bid to bolster numbers

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Original article by Angus Thompson
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 6-Mar-24

The first tranche of the federal government’s Closing Loopholes legislation included the right for unions to appoint delegates in workplaces, and for that delegate to act on behalf of employees who are eligible to join the union. The ACTU wants the Fair Work Commission to insert a clause in all industry awards that includes a right for delegates to communicate with workers about joining the union. Jessica Tinsley from the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says the legislation restricts delegates to engaging in "reasonable communication" with employees about their industrial interests; she contends that this should not apply to communications that are solely about joining the union.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

CFMEU to Burke: Stay out of DP World row

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 17-Jan-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is slated to meet with executives from port operator DP World Australia on Thursday. The stevedoring firm is likely to urge the federal government to intervene in its long-running dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia. Opposition leader Peter Dutton recently urged Burke and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to step in, contending that failure to do so would give the MUA a ‘green light’ to keep pursuing industrial action. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith warns that government intervention in the dispute would set a "dangerous precedent".

CORPORATES
DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Union accused of bad faith over new work bans

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Original article by Nick Bonyhady
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 10-Jan-24

The Maritime Union of Australia may seek to expand its industrial action against container terminal operator DP World Australia. Amongst other things, the MUA has indicated that it may delay arriving cargo ships for 16 hours and impose indefinite work bans on some vessels. DP World and the MUA commenced three days of negotiations on Tuesday, the same day the union flagged a potential escalation of the industrial action in documents sent to DP World. Nicolaj Noes has questioned whether the MUA is bargaining in good faith, given that the papers are dated 6 January.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DP WORLD

Virgin ground crews set to strike over pay deal

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Oct-23

The Transport Workers’ Union has applied to the Fair Work Commission to undertake a ballot on protected industrial action by Virgin Australia’s ground staff. The TWU’s assistant national secretary Nick McIntosh says Virgin has some of the lowest pay and conditions across the sector. The union has rejected Virgin’s proposed three-year wage deal, which includes a pay rise of between three per cent and 12.8 per cent in the first year, and three per cent in the following two years. Virgin’s cabin crew are also seeking a pay rise.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Court urged to make example of CBA on pay

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Sep-23

The Federal Court has been urged to impose the maximum penalty on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for underpaying about 7,4000 employees some $16m over more than a decade. Michael Seck, the lawyer representing the Fair Work Ombudsman, contended that the penalty must be sufficient to deter other large companies from underpaying their staff. The bank had self-reported the underpayments to the FWO and has provided back-pay to all affected employees. The underpayments occured after CBA shifted affected employees from an enterprise agreement to individual agreements.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Dispute exposes labour hire laws legal nightmare

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Aug-23

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says a union dispute at Opal Australian Paper shows that the federal government’ proposed ‘same job, same pay’ policy could be a legal nightmare for employers. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union alleged that a labour hire worker was paid less than the direct workforce at Opal’s Maryvale paper mill in Victoria. A union deal required contractors to receive ‘no less favourable’ wages and conditions than direct employees. The Fair Work Commission assessed a range of disputed conditions before ruling in Opal’s favour, including overtime, casual rates, allowances and bonuses.

CORPORATES
OPAL AUSTRALIAN PAPER, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP