LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Leak came from union watchdog

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 15-Feb-19

Senator Michaelia Cash is due to give evidence in the Federal Court on 15 February in a case brought by the Australian Workers’ Union. She is expected to be asked to respond to allegations by her former chief-of-staff Ben Davies that he was tipped off about an Australian Federal Police raid on AWU offices by former Registered Organisations Commission media adviser Mark Lee. The AWU contends that a ROC investigation into donations made by it to GetUp and Labor leader Bill Shorten is "politically motivated" and legally invalid.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Raid leak designed to damage Shorten

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 14-Feb-19

David De Garis has told the Federal Court that he cannot recall if he told Michaelia Cash that he intended to give the media advance notice of police raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union. However, Cash’s former media adviser revealed that he had not acted alone, stating that he leaked details of the raids in partnership with Michael Tetlow, who was the media adviser to former justice minister Michael Keenan at the time.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Cash forced to explain union raids evidence

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 4 : 13-Feb-19

Following police raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in October 2017, Senator Michaelia Cash told a Senate estimates hearing that no member of her staff had prior knowledge of the raids. However, her former media adviser David De Garis has told the Federal Court that Ben Davis – who was Cash’s chief-of-staff at the time – had informed him of the raids several hours before they occurred. De Garis later resigned after admitting that he had leaked details of the raids to the media.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Strike laws like apartheid: union boss

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Feb-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus claims that Australia has the most restrictive strike laws among developed nations. In a 100-page essay published by Melbourne University Press, she also likens Australia’s strike laws to the apartheid system in South Africa, the British Raj and racial segregation in the US. McManus also defends her 2017 comments in which she said it is acceptable to break unjust laws, while she criticises the trade union royal commission, privatisation and executive bonuses.

CORPORATES
ACTU, MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS, UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Pizza Hut ushers in penalty rates after Fair Work ruling

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Feb-19

Pizza Hut Australia employees will be moved to the industry award after the Fair Work Commission agreed to terminate an enterprise agreement that had expired in 2012. The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association had applied to have the agreement terminated in 2017, after Pizza Hut failed to increase its pay rates in line with a 3.3 per cent rise in the minimum wage in 2016. Under the expired workplace agreement, penalty rates had been traded off for a seven per cent increase in base hourly wage rates.

CORPORATES
PIZZA HUT AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP

ALP locks in shipping fleet

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jan-19

The Maritime Union of Australia’s national secretary Paddy Crumlin says Labor is likely to pursue coastal shipping reforms if it wins the 2019 federal election. He expects Labor to mandate that cargo ships operating between the nation’s ports must be Australian-flagged, with local crews who are subject to Australian conditions of employment. Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says that such restrictions would lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY

Fair Work warning over anti-CFMEU retweet

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 18-Jan-19

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an appeal by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union over a ruling of senior deputy president Jonathan Hamberger. The CFMMEU claimed that Hamberger should have recused himself from a case involving three union officials after he shared a 2016 tweet from Employment Minister Michaelia Cash that attacked the CFMMEU and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. The FWC stated that Hamberger’s sharing of the tweet did not mean he was biased against the union’s officials, but it did state that his actions in sharing the tweet were inappropriate.

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

Unions draw strength from spectacular victory at coalmine

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Jan-19

Wollongong Coal has agreed to a new pay deal to end a strike by labour hire workers at the Wongawilli Colliery in New South Wales. The hourly pay rate of CAS Mine Services employees at the mine will be increased by 12 per cent, and their weekly production bonus will be increased. They will also become permanent workers on fixed-term contracts, while CAS has agreed to negotiate a two-year enterprise agreement that includes two annual pay rises of two per cent. The deal has been welcomed by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union.

CORPORATES
WOLLONGONG COAL LIMITED – ASX WLC, CAS MINE SERVICES PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU

No criminal charges for anyone implicated in leaking information in AWU raids case

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Original article by Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 15-Jan-19

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions believes that there is little chance of securing any convictions over media leaks regarding raids on the offices of the Australian Workers’ Union in October 2017. An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman says that as there is no prospect of criminal charges, the investigation into the affair will be discontinued. The senior media adviser to former Employment Minister Michaelia Cash resigned over the leak, although Cash herself denied that her office had any knowledge of the leak.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Ports, mine targeted in CFMEU hit

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jan-19

Hutchison Ports Australia will be subject to industrial action by the militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union. Work bans will commence on 17 January, in response to the stevedoring group’s push to reduce pay rates and leave entitlements under a new workplace agreement. Hutchison will apply for an order from the Fair Work Commission requiring the union to give five days’ notice prior to launching the industrial action. Meanwhile, CFMMEU members at the Wongawilli Colliery in New South Wales have voted to extend strike action for a second week.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, HUTCHISON PORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOLLONGONG COAL LIMITED – ASX WLC, JINDAL STEEL AND POWER LIMITED, CAS MINE SERVICES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY