LABOR UNIONS – 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 to urge ALP to ease anti-strike rules

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Dec-17

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has warned that a landmark High Court ruling will make it more difficult for unions to take protected industrial action. The court ruled that lawful industrial action during enterprise bargaining negotiations is not permissible if previous orders of the Fair Work Commission had been breached during the bargaining process. McManus says Australia’s rules on the right to strike are "complex and onerous", and she argues that reforms are needed to make them consistent with the International Labour Organisation’s standards. The ACTU will lobby the Australian Labor Party to pursue changes to the right-to-strike regime.

CORPORATES
ACTU, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, VICTORIAN INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL PTY LTD, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIAN TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX

High Court removes strike protections in landmark ruling

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Dec-17

A landmark ruling of the High Court of Australia has major implications for unions regarding negotiations over enterprise bargaining agreements. The court ruled that unions are not permitted to take protected industrial action while EBA negotiations are underway if the union had previously breached an order of the Fair Work Commission regarding that bargaining. The Australian Workers’ Union had argued that unions are only required to comply with current rather than past orders of the FWC. The ruling could potentially result in the AWU being required to pay significant damages to Esso over strike action at the Longford gas plant in Victoria in 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ESSO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED)

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

Shorten ally has unofficial role in HSU

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 1-Dec-17

The Health Workers Union had sought to seek costs against former official Sel Sanli after he abandoned unfair dismissal proceedings against it. Sanli claimed HWU boss Diana Asmar sacked him because he refused to support the election of her husband David to an important role within Victorian Labor, of which he was a delegate. Sanli abandoned his claim after the HSU released phone records of him talking to escort workers and viewing pornography. However, the Fair Work Commission has dismissed the HWU’s cost claim, while finding that Sanli’s claims about his sacking were justified. It concluded David Asmar had a major influence on the HSU, despite not working for it.

CORPORATES
HEALTH WORKERS UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Port operator to sue MUA over illegal picket line

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 30-Nov-17

Victoria International Container Terminals is planning legal action against the Maritime Union of Australia over what it claims is an illegal picket at Melbourne’s Webb Dock terminal. The picket has been in place since 27 November, and is aimed at pressuring VICT to re-deploy a stevedore who was denied a security clearance that would allow him to work in the dock’s restricted zone. VICT contends the MUA’s action puts at risk business growth in the order of $A100 million.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINALS, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN MARITIME OFFICERS’ UNION, CONTAINER TRANSPORT ALLIANCE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED

Woolworths facing union boycott threat

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 29-Nov-17

The New South Wales branch of the National Union of Workers has called on consumers to boycott Woolworths in the lead-up to Christmas. This follows the supermarket chain’s decision to stand down union delegates in early November over alleged breaches of safety rules. The delegates, who work at its Minchinbury warehouse, were stood down after allegedly telling other workers to take off their protective vests, in protest at the alleged bullying of staff there by a manager. A Woolworths spokesperson says it hopes to conclude an investigation into the matter in the week ending 2 December.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, UNILEVER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERIES

Business alarm as vote brings on merger of militant super union

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: Online : 28-Nov-17

Members of the Maritime Union of Australia have voted in favour of a merger with the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union. It is expected the two unions will ask the Fair Work Commission in January 2018 to approve their alliance, which would create a union with 144,000 members. However, employer groups have indicated they will go to the High Court if necessary in an attempt to block the FWC from approving the merger. Fifty per cent of MUA members took part in the vote, with 87 per cent of votes supporting the merger.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, TEXTILE, CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION

Workers agree to pay freeze in deal to end ice cream boycott

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Nov-17

Workers at Streets’ Minto ice cream factory in Sydney have agreed to an in-principle settlement of their long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Features of the new agreement between Unilever and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union include a pay freeze for the next 12 months, changes to rosters, and a reduction in work breaks from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. As a result of the in-principle agreement, unions have agreed to withdraw their campaign for a consumer boycott of Streets’ brands.

CORPORATES
UNILEVER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ACTU