INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

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

Union scores another legal win over Qantas

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 22-Sep-21

The Federal Court has rejected Qantas’s push to delay a preliminary remedy hearing with regard to the reinstatement of ground-handling staff whose jobs had been outsourced. The preliminary hearing had been scheduled for 1 October, but Qantas argued that it should be postponed until the carrier’s appeal against the Federal Court’s recent ruling in the case is heard in 2022. The court had found that Qantas’s decision to outsource 2,000 jobs was at least partly aimed at avoiding industrial action; the airline had contended that the move was solely aimed at achieving cost savings of $100m.

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

Strike threat to parcel deliveries

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 6-Aug-21

Workers at parcel delivery firms StarTrack and FedEx may take strike action over stalled negotiations regarding a new enterprise agreement. The Transport Workers’ Union will apply to the Fair Work Commission to hold a ballot of its members at the two companies. Amongst other things, the TWU wants any pay rise in the new enterprise agreements to be backdated to 2020, in order to compensate workers for agreeing to forgo wage increases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
STARTRACK COMMUNICATIONS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FEDERAL EXPRESS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Coles abandons enterprise bargaining for staff at its stores

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 28-Jul-21

The existing enterprise agreement for workers in Coles stores expired more than 14 months ago, but the retail giant has refused to negotiate a new deal with unions. The Fair Work Act prohibits workers from taking protected industrial action if their employer refuses to engage in enterprise bargaining. The full bench of the Fair Work Commission recently rejected an application by the Retail & Fast Food Workers’ Union for a majority support determination based on its petition of 2,000 Coles employees. The union plans to take Coles to the Federal Court to force it to the negotiating table. Coles still negotiates agreements with its distribution centres, which are heavily unionised.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION