LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Push for minimum pay for rideshare drivers

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 9 : 17-Dec-25

The Transport Workers Union will apply to the Fair Work Commission for minimum pay and conditions for rideshare drivers. The TWU will push for drivers’ minimum hourly rates to reflect the costs of being a contractor – such as vehicle expenses, road tolls and insurance – in addition to their actual work. The TWU’s survey of 1,600 rideshare drivers has found that their average take-home pay is $15 an hour, compared with the award rate of between $26 and $32 for transport workers. The TWU also found that drivers earn an average of just $703 a week after costs, while 59 per cent are skipping meals to save money.

CORPORATES
TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Unions to pursue above-CPI pay rises

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Nov-25

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s national secretary Steve Murphy has accused the Reserve Bank of being "out of touch" after it forecast that inflation will remain above its target range for at least six months and there will be negative real wages growth in 2026. He says the RBA blames workers, but "profit-driven price hikes" and "corporate greed" are the real problem. Murphy adds that despite the forecast increase in the inflation rate, the AMWU will be able to achieve real wages growth in upcoming negotiations for new enterprise agreements. The Electrical Trades Union’s national secretary Michael Wright says it also will continue to deliver real pay rises for its members.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Westpac cuts 200 teller jobs for digital

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 24-Sep-25

Westpac is set to retrench 200 of its bank tellers as part of its latest restructuring program. The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano says it is "callous and short sighted" for Westpac to get staff to migrate customers to its digital services and then sack them. She adds that the FSU will hold Westpac to account "every step of the way", arguing that workers whose roles are cut must be re-skilled and redeployed, rather than discarded. Angrisano adds that Westpac only agreed to establish a $5m development fund for displaced staff due to pressure from the FSU, and that there has been no clarity as to how this fund will work and whether it will genuinely protect jobs.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

ACTU’s training levy a ‘crock’, say business leaders

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Aug-25

The ACTU has used the first day of the federal government’s economic roundtable to call for a national skills levy, with its idea being roundly rejected by employer and business groups. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox claimed that the proposal would impact 71,000 businesses with a combined payroll of about $300 billion; the ACTU stated that its proposal would involve a levy of 1.5 per cent of payroll for companies with annual turnover above $500,000, unless a business already spends that amount on training. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says incentives to boost training, such as those provided to take on apprentices, are preferable to taxes.

CORPORATES
ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Employers pitch Fair Work reform

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 29-Jul-25

The Australian Resources & Energy Employers Association is calling for an end to politically-biased appointments to the Fair Work Commission ahead of the federal government’s productivity roundtable. With both Coalition and Labor governments having been accused of favouring people with employer or union backgrounds, respectively, when making FWC appointments, the AREEA has used its submission to the roundtable to call for them to be made by an independent panel; it would comprise the federal industrial relations minister, the ACTU and employer groups.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY EMPLOYER ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU

AI a Trojan horse for IR rules, business warns

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Jul-25

A recent survey by KPMG found that Australians have lower levels of artificial intelligence use, training and confidence than their global peers. Meanwhile, business leaders are concerned that the union movement will use the federal government’s upcoming productivity summit to argue for increased workplace regulation due to the growing adoption of AI technologies. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says the business community will oppose any attempt to use to summit to further shift the balance of power in workplaces from employers to unions.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Former CFMEU leaders set to plead guilty

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Apr-25

The lawyer representing the CFMEU’s former NSW state secretary Darren Greenfield and his son Michael has indicated that the pair may plead guilty to some of the charges they face, while other charges may be withdrawn. However, the lawyer has declined to comment on whether the Greenfields will plead guilty to bribery charges. They were initially charged with accepting bribes from a construction firm in 2021. Meanwhile, nearly 92 per cent of the CFMEU’s manufacturing division have voted in favour of demerging and establishing the Timber, Furnishing & Textiles Union.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION

Unions warn Coalition’s job cuts could exceed 41,000

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is under scrutiny over his backdown over plans to slash federal public service numbers. The Community & Public Sector Union’s national secretary Melissa Donnelly says the Coalition’s new policy of reducing the public service via natural attrition and hiring freezes over five years could result in the loss of much more than the 41,000 jobs that Dutton had initially flagged. ACTU secretary Sally McManus in turn has criticised Dutton’s backdown on a return-to-office mandate for public servants; she says legal advice suggests that Dutton could not enforce this without legislative changes that would also remove working-from-home rights for all workers.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, ACTU

Unions to target MinRes after milestone BHP win

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 8-Apr-25

The push to reunionise the Pilbara has received a boost after BHP agreed to commence enterprise bargaining negotiations for electrical workers at its mines in Western Australia. The Electrical Trades Union’s state branch says BHP’s decision to formally concede that a majority of its power workers want an enterprise agreement is a "massive win". The ETU has submitted a separate application to the Fair Work Commission for an order requiring BHP to bargain on behalf of its rail signal technicians in WA. Unions are also targeting rival iron ore producers Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Union vows to fight Dutton’s five-days-in-office edict at the tribunal

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Original article by Olivia Ireland, Josefine Ganko
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 5-Mar-25

The Community & Public Sector Union says it will pursue a Fair Work Commission challenge to any mandate for public servants to return to working in their office five days a week if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election. The CPSU’s national secretary Melissa Donnelly has accused the Coalition of being ‘tone-deaf’ to the challenges that working families and working women face in their working life. Opposition leader Peter Dutton rejects suggestions that the policy discriminates against women with children, arguing that it will apply to all public servants; he adds that the Coalition would use common sense when considering any exceptions to the policy.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA