INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Aged care wages should be Labor’s ‘first priority’: HSU boss

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Original article by Angus Thompson
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 26-May-22

The Fair Work Commission has held several weeks of hearings regarding the Health Services Union’s push for a 25 per cent increase in the wages of aged-care workers. The HSU’s national president Gerard Hayes says the federal government’s submission to the wage case should be the new Labor administration’s top priority. Carolyn Smith from the United Workers Union agrees that the issue must be a priority for the government. It was recently estimated that there is a shortage of about 60,000 workers in the aged-care sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNITED WORKERS UNION

Court backs contract jobs

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 10-Feb-22

University of Adelaide law professor Andrew Stewart says a landmark High Court decision is a "big win" for companies which contend that their workers are independent contractors rather than employees. The court has ruled that two truck drivers who had worked exclusively for a lighting company for nearly four decades via a partnership arrangement are not employees, and are therefore not entitled to minimum pay and conditions. A majority of the court adopted a strict approach that relied almost solely on the terms of the contract itself. However, in a separate judgment the court has ruled that a British backpacker was an employee rather than a contractor, because his contract gave his construction labour hire firm the right to decide who he could work for.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Australian social services department underpaid dozens of staff $400,000 over five years

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Original article by Luke Henriques-Gomes
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 22-Dec-21

Documents released under freedom of information laws, show that a key federal government agency has admitted to underpaying its staff. The Department of Social Services self-reported the underpayments totalling more than $400,000 to the Fair Work Ombudsman. The Community & Public Sector Union contends that the Department had been aware of the underpayments in 2017 and had failed to address the issue until it was issued with a compliance notice by the FWO in July 2021. A total of 68 current and former employees of the Department’s communications services branch were affected by the underpayments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Morrison takes on the wharfies

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 1-Dec-21

The Maritime Union of Australia recently agreed to suspend industrial action against stevedoring firm Patrick until at least 10 December. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that the federal government may be prepared to intervene if the parties do not negotiate in good faith to end their long-running dispute. He has stressed that ports are critical to the nation’s economy, and contends that inefficient ports are a tax on all Australians. Morrison has also advised that the Productivity Commission will hold an inquiry into the nation’s ports; its findings are slated to be released in mid-2022.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK TERMINALS, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Unvaxxed BHP miners agree to get the jab

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 25-Nov-21

BHP has advised that fewer than 35 workers at its Mt Arthur coal mine have yet to provide evidence that they are vaccinated against COVID-19. The resources group recently stood down nearly 80 of the mine’s workers under its mandatory vaccination policy. The CFMEU and the ACTU are challenging the validity of this policy in the Fair Work Commission, contending that BHP did not comply with the consultation requirements of the Work, Health and Safety Act.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

BHP miners sent home without pay

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 11-Nov-21

BHP imposed a deadline of 10 November for all workers at its Mt Arthur open-cut coal mine to receive their first COVID-19 shot under its mandatory vaccination policy. BHP has advised that almost 80 unvaccinated workers at the mine have been stood down without pay, although it will not take any further action until the Fair Work Commission issues a ruling on a legal challenge to the vaccination policy. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union had sought to delay implementation of the policy. Workers at all other BHP sites must be vaccinated by the end of January.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Women in construction still battling glass ceilings

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 8-Nov-21

A survey of male and female construction workers by recruitment and human resources firm Randstad found that females believe that there are many barriers to them entering the sector, including workplace culture and a lack of gender diversity. The survey revealed that the level of discrimination reported by female construction workers has fallen in the last two years; the most common form of discrimination they experienced was inappropriate comments or behaviour from male colleagues.

CORPORATES
RANDSTAD RECRUITMENT PTY LTD

Unions slam BHP over FIFO searches

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 20-Oct-21

BHP has been criticised for implementing a new policy that allows it to search the personal belongings of ‘fly in, fly out’ workers. Western Mine Workers Alliance spokesman Greg Busson says FIFO workers in Western Australia have been told that they will not be permitted to stay in BHP’s mining camps if they do not agree to the policy. He adds that the policy is "wide open to abuse". BHP has indicated that searches will only be carried out if there is reason to believe that a worker is in possession of prohibited items.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN MINE WORKERS ALLIANCE

Qantas accused of pilot underpay

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 7 : 19-Oct-21

Former Qantas pilot Captain Andrew Hewitt has taken the airline to the Federal Court over what he contends is a shortfall in his termination payout. Hewitt, who is the son of former Qantas chairman Sir Lenox Hewitt, was among a number of pilots who were offered early retirement and redundancy packages when it stopped international flights because of the pandemic. Hewitt alleges that Qantas ‘shortchanged’ him by more than $92,000; a spokesman for Qantas says it intends to defend the claim being made against it by Hewitt.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Union blasts ABC on management, underpay

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 1-Oct-21

A review by the ABC has found that current and former staff employed under certain pay categories between 14 July 2014 and 20 July 2021 had been underpaid. The public broadcaster’s announcement that some staff had been underpaid has prompted an attack by the Community & Public Sector Union, which has accused the ABC of having "serious cultural problems", while urging it to rein in the poor management practices that caused the underpayment problems.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION