INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – VICTORIA

Mates rates

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Original article by Matt Johnston, James Dowling, James Campbell
Herald Sun – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Mar-18

Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade staff will shortly vote on a new enterprise bargaining agreement that features a pay rise of 19 per cent and a range of allowances. Amongst other things, MFB firefighters will be entitled to 65 days of annual leave each year, plus 99 days of personal and sick leave after being at the MFB for at least two years. MFB employees will also be entitled to four days of leave each time a family member becomes ill or injured. The EBA allows many existing MFB policies to be abolished unless the United Firefighters Union agrees to them following consultation.

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Union fined $1m over Boral boycott

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Feb-18

The Federal Court has ordered the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union to pay fines totalling $A1m for breaching the secondary boycott provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act. The union had banned Victorian building sites from using concrete supplied by Boral in the wake of a 2012 industrial dispute between the CFMEU and Grocon. Justice John Middleton found that the union engaged in a secondary boycott at two building sites, although the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had contended that 12 sites had been affected.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ALSAFE PREMIX CONCRETE PTY LTD, GROCON PTY LTD, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Union leader ordered to halt illegal Port of Melbourne picket

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Dec-17

Victorian Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari and union officials will be barred from blockading Victorian International Container Terminal’s site at Webb Dock. VICT CEO Andres Dommestrup has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant injunctions against Hilakari, the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. VICT had claimed that Hilakari had been the leader of picketers who have blocked access to the company’s Webb Dock facility for several weeks.

CORPORATES
VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB

Conspiracy claim over docks dispute

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: 3 : 12-Dec-17

Victorian International Container Terminal (VICT) has told the Supreme Court that an ongoing blockade of its Webb Dock terminal is doing "immeasurable" harm to its business. VICT has alleged that Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari and other unionists are involved in a conspiracy against the company, and is seeking an ongoing injunction against Hilakari and the Maritime Union of Australia. Justice Michael McDonald said the ongoing blockade is an example of "plainly unlawful conduct".

CORPORATES
VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Unions block docks with cars, share bikes

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Dec-17

Maritime Union of Australia supporters are defying a court order to end a picket of Victorian International Container Terminal at Webb Dock in Melbourne. Trucks are being prevented from accessing the site, with roads being blocked with a range of objects. The blockade has been in place since late November, preventing access to more than 1,000 shipping containers of consumer goods and medical supplies. The dispute arose after the MUA alleged that VICT refused to provide one of its members with shifts at the site. VICT contends that the worker does not have a maritime security identification card.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, VICTORIA POLICE

Calombaris to reimburse underpaid staff within weeks

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Original article by Cameron Houston, Chris Vedelago
The Age – Page: 11 : 13-Sep-17

Made Establishment, which is part-owned by celebrity chef George Calombaris, has advised former staff that it will provide them with all outstanding backpay by 13 October. The hospitality group had previously advised that ex-employees who had been underpaid would not be reimbursed until mid-2018, after it failed to meet a deadline of 30 June 2017. Made Establishment has already paid current staff some $A2.6m in backpay.

CORPORATES
MADE ESTABLISHMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Bluescope wins labour dispute

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 23 : 10-Aug-17

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that it was appropriate for Bluescope Steel to hire contract labour to cope with a seasonal rise in demand at its steel mill in Victoria, rather than employing permanent employees for just eight weeks. The steel-maker had contended that its enterprise agreement allowed it to hire temporary workers without obtaining the consent of unions, an argument which had been rejected by the Australian Workers’ Union. BlueScope also argued that overtime restrictions prevented it from using existing staff, which the AWU also disputed.

CORPORATES
BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

CFMEU faces bankruptcy from lawsuit

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Jul-17

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and several of its senior officials have been served with a writ in the Victorian Supreme Court. The writ relates to a failed apartment project on the site of Pentridge prison in Melbourne’s north, with the writ alleging that the CFMEU used illegal coercion and threats that caused delays that led to the project’s failure. The value of the writ is potentially as high as $A150 million, a sum that could bankrupt the union if the case went against it.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, WEST HOMES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, GROCON PTY LTD, PENTRIDGE VILLAGE PTY LTD

Power chaos looms amid union row

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-May-17

The Victorian Government has intervened in the long-running dispute over enterprise agreement negotiations at AGL Energy’s Loy Yang power station. The Government will seek an order from the Fair Work Commission to prevent the Electrical Trades Union from launching industrial action. AGL had warned that safety considerations would force it to shut down the power station from mid-May if workers went on strike. Loy Yang supplies more than 40 per cent of the state’s electricity.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Power employees told to bend for plant’s survival

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 20 : 23-Dec-16

Members of the Electrical Trades Union intend to stop work for an hour at the Loy Yang A power station in Victoria on 25 December 2016. The union and AGL Energy cannot agree over the terms of a new workplace agreement. AGL’s head of Loy Yang, Steve Rieniets, says changes in labour practices are necessary to ensure viability of the plant.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA