LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Union living wage an $8bn hit on bosses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Feb-18

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry estimates that the ACTU’s proposal for a "living wage" would cost between $A5bn and $A8bn a year. The ACCI’s Scott Barklamb warns that fixing a living wage at 60 per cent of the median wage by 2020 would require annual increases in the minimum wage that are double the 3.3 per cent rise announced by the Fair Work Commission in 2017. He adds that the living wage proposal would result in job losses and could threaten the viability of some businesses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Builders facing bans for displaying Eureka flag

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Feb-18

The Australian Building & Construction Commission says construction firms may be ineligible to tender for federal government projects if workers display union slogans or logos on employer-issued clothing and equipment. The revised national construction code, which was released in 2016, includes more strict restrictions on displaying union-related logos and slogans than the 2013 code. Dave Noonan of the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union says the ABCC’s "anti-union ideology" has not changed since Stephen McBurney replaced Nigel Hadgkiss as commissioner.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Living-wage bid could be death of businesses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Feb-18

Scott Barklamb of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says small businesses in particular would face a big increase in wage costs if a future government adopted the ACTU’s proposal for a "living wage". The Federal Opposition has indicated that it may consider permanently setting the minimum wage at a proportion of the median wage, although it has not specified what this would be. The ACTU’s target for a living wage is 60 per cent of the median wage, and Workplace Minister Craig Laundy says implementing this target would force many businesses to close.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, THE WORLD BAR

Domino’s wage deal voted up

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-Feb-18

Some 89 per cent of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises employees who participated in a ballot have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement. The new pay deal, which is the pizza chain’s first in about five years, includes full penalty rates and casual loading for the first time. The enterprise agreement had the support of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association, although the Retail & Fast Food Workers Union was against some aspects of the new pay deal.

CORPORATES
DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION INCORPORATED

Strike limits may extend to service sector – expert

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 29-Jan-18

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey says the Fair Work Commission’s decision to suspend strike action by Sydney train drivers has set a "worrying precedent". The ruling was based on a section of the Fair Work Act which allows protected industrial action to be suspended if the welfare of the public could be at risk. The University of Sydney’s Professor Shae McCrystal says the ruling could potentially apply to a broad range of service industries, such as schools, childcare centres and medical clinics. The Rail, Tram & Bus Union’s national secretary Bob Nanva claims that the FWC ruling signals the "death of the right to strike" in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIONS NSW, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, SYDNEY TRAINS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Final bid to stop $100m rail strike

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Original article by Andrew Clennell, Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Jan-18

Hopes of averting a rail strike in Sydney may rest with the Fair Work Commission, after members of the Rail, Tram & Bus Union voted against the New South Wales Government’s proposed wage deal for train drivers. FWC deputy president Jonathan Hamberger will shortly decide whether the planned strike action on 29 January can lawfully proceed. Train drivers will commence a ban on working overtime on 25 January, ahead of the proposed 24-hour shutdown of the rail network.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, SYDNEY TRAINS, TRANSPORT FOR NSW, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF COMMERCE. OFFICE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, SYDNEY BUSINESS CHAMBER, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Penalty-rate victory for Coles workers

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jan-18

The Shop Distributive & Allied Employees’ ­Association has negotiated a new enterprise agreement with grocery giant Coles that includes higher penalty rates for staff who work at night and on weekends. The deal includes an annual pay rise for all employees, and a one-off payment to ensure that their take-home pay is not adversely affected by the new wage deal. Coles workers will vote on the proposed enterprise agreement in mid-February. Coles and the SDA have been negotiating a new deal for about 12 months.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Win for employers over casuals

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

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has failed to have a Fair Work Commission ruling on casual workers overturned on appeal. The AMWU had contended that two labour-hire employees who had worked for Visy continuously for three months were entitled to become permanent employees under a clause in the packaging group’s enterprise agreement. The full bench of the FWC upheld the ruling that the clause was not a "permitted matter" under the Fair Work Act. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the ruling highlights the need for changes to workplace laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Consultancy spend alarms union, MPs

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 22-Jan-18

MPs are concerned about the level of money that federal government departments are spending on consultants and contractors. Almost 5,000 consultants are employed across government agencies, and the Community & Public Sector Union estimates that $A380 million could be saved each year by replacing them with permanent public servants. Accenture and the four major accounting firms are estimated to have made more than $A3 billion over a five-year period from federal government contracts.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. JOINT COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES

Senate rivals clear path for Keneally’s prize

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Original article by Andrew Clennell, Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-18

The Transport Workers’ Union’s national secretary Tony Sheldon and United Voice’s Tara Moriarty have chosen not to seek nomination to replace Labor’s Sam Dastyari in the Senate. Former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally now seems certain to replace Dastyari. She gained 45.12 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote in the Bennelong by-election in late 2017. Meanwhile, there is speculation that Labor will offer Sheldon a Senate seat at the next federal election, and Moriarty is tipped to contest the next state election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, UNITED VOICE, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA