INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – LAW AND LEGISLATION – AUSTRALIA

Casuals’ court triumph will let them ‘double-dip’: bosses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Aug-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox is among the business leaders who have criticised the Federal Court’s ruling that casual employees who work regular hours are entitled to annual leave. The court found that a Queensland truck driver who worked on a fly-in, fly-out basis could not be considered to be a casual worker under the Fair Work Act due to his "regular and continuous" employment. The court’s decision has been welcomed by the ACTU and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), RECRUITMENT, CONSULTING AND STAFFING ASSOCIATION LIMITED, WORKPAC PTY LTD

Court blow for ABCC crusade on union fines

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Aug-18

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has failed in its bid to have construction union official Alex Tadic personally pay a $7,500 fine for breaching workplace laws. Justice Richard Tracey said that courts can take into account whether a union official has consistently breached workplace laws in the past. He ruled that the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union should pay the fines of Tadic and another official. The union itself was fined $245,000.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

CFMEU should be deregistered: judges

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Aug-18

The militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined more than $500,000 in two separate court rulings. The Federal Court rejected the union’s appeal against a fine of $306,000 imposed in 2017 over the conduct of its former Queensland president David Hanna. Justice John Logan criticised the CFMMEU’s poor track record regarding compliance with workplace laws and likened the union to its deregistered predecessor, the Builders Labourers Federation. The CFMMEU has also been fined $271,500 for breaching right-of-entry laws.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Business rails against union bid to remove secret strike ballots

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jul-18

Delegates at the ACTU Congress have passed a resolution calling for workers to be given the right to take legally protected industrial action without the need to hold a secret ballot. The congress also endorsed resolutions on the right to strike during enterprise bargaining talks across industries or sectors and the abolition of the Australian Building & Construction Commission. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson has warned that the ACTU’s push for industrial relations reform would result in job losses.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), AUSTRALIA. ROAD SAFETY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Militant to strike tough line for ACTU

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 18-Jul-18

Michele O’Neil has called for changes to Australia’s laws on the right to strike in her first speech as the newly-elected president of the ACTU. She has told the peak union body’s congress that the right to strike is a basic human right that is now highly regulated and restricted. O’Neil also favours changes to workplace laws to allow enterprise bargaining to occur at industry-wide level. O’Neil was the only contender to succeed Ged Kearney. Meanwhile, ACTU secretary Sally McManus has urged the union movement to step up its campaign for industrial relations reform.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TEXTILE, CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Shorten vows he’ll restore Sunday penalties in 100 days

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

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has told the ACTU Congress that he will reverse weekend penalty rate cuts within his first 100 days in office if Labor wins the next election. He also committed to amending the Fair Work Act to prevent penalty rates from being "arbitrarily" reduced in the future. Labor will also legislate for casual staff to become permanent employees after a certain period of continuous employment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU

IR laws a disaster hurting millions

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

The national secretary of United Voice, Jo Schofield, has called for an overhaul of the industrial relations system, arguing that enterprise bargaining at the workplace level has been a failure and industry-level bargaining should be permitted. She will also tell the Evatt Foundation on 18 June that the industry award system has resulted in wages and conditions being capped for nearly 25 per cent of workers. The ACTU recently proposed industry-wide enterprise bargaining, although the Coalition and employers have warned that it would result in job losses and make businesses less competitive.

CORPORATES
UNITED VOICE, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, EVATT FOUNDATION

Labor open to union demands, rejects strike bid

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 23-May-18

Shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor has indicated that Labor will consider a proposal for rules governing unions’ right to enter workplaces to be relaxed. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s Victorian secretary John Setka has also called for Labor to make changes to the provisions of the Fair Work Act with regard to protected industrial action, although O’Connor says this will not be on the party’s agenda.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Setka tells Shorten: loosen strike laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 18-May-18

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s Victorian secretary John Setka has urged Labor to make changes to the Fair Work Act if it wins the next federal election. Amongst other things, he has called for rules governing protected industrial action and unions’ right to enter workplaces to be relaxed. Setka has also criticised former Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard over their policies on industrial relations. Meanwhile, Michele O’Neil is tipped to succeed Ged Kearney as president of the ACTU. O’Neil is the national secretary of the textiles union, which is part of the CFMMEU.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, TEXTILE, CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, VICTORIA POLICE, VICTORIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Unions ‘new capitalists’: Kennett

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-May-18

About 100,000 unionists attended a rally in Melbourne’s CBD on 9 May, as part of the ACTU’s campaign for industrial relations reform. However, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett says there is little support among the general public for workplace reform, adding that the ACTU’s campaign is undermined by the fact that many union members earn more than $A100,000 a year. CFMEU official David Noonan argues that large amounts of overtime in the construction industry boosts incomes in the sector, while building workers lack secure employment.

CORPORATES
ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA