LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Green foes hit ACTU chief’s bid for seat

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Sep-17

Ged Kearney will step down as president of the ACTU in July 2018 to become the Australian Labor Party’s candidate for the lower house seat of Brunswick at the Victorian election. Labor holds the seat with a margin of 2.2 per cent, and incumbent Jane Garrett will seek to move to the upper house. However, the Greens are gaining support in Melbourne’s inner-city and are seen as a real threat in the seat of Brunswick. Kearney had been widely tipped to pursue a seat in federal parliament if she entered politics.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Union demands action over ‘rogue’ building watchdog

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Sep-17

The Electrical Trades Union’s national secretary Allen Hicks has criticised the Australian Building & Construction Commission for pursuing costs against the union. The ETU challenged the validity of the national building code in court earlier in 2017, but subsequently abandoned the case. However, former ABCC head Nigel Hadgkiss sought a ruling against the union on costs. Hicks argues that Hadgkiss should have been aware that there was little chance of costs being awarded, and he wants the Federal Government to ensure that the ABCC is accountable for its expenditure on litigation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SA POWER NETWORKS, ASHURST AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Minimum-wage sting in Coles penalties deal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Sep-17

A draft enterprise agreement between Coles and the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ ­Association is intended to guarantee that all employees will be paid more than the award rate for the retail industry. If the deal is approved, permanent ­employees who work at night and on weekends will receive award-level penalty rates, as well as the full $A22.10-per-week increase in the minimum wage. However, employees who work solely on weekdays and are now paid above-award rates will receive only 50 per cent of the minimum wage rise.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

ACTU calling for Cash to quit cabinet

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 15-Sep-17

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has defended the appointment of Nigel Hadgkiss as the head of the Australian Building & Construction Commission in December 2016. Cash says she became aware of the ACTU’s allegations against Hadgkiss in October, but she argues that he only admitted to breaching the Fair Work Act when he resigned on 13 September 2017. Cash also argues that Hadgkiss automatically became head of the ABCC when it was reinstated, as he held the same role at the Fair Work Building & Construction Inspectorate. However, ACTU president Ged Kearney says Cash’s position is untenable and she should also resign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

CFMEU hit with $2.4m record fines

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 14-Sep-17

Federal Court judge Geoffrey Flick has described the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union as a "recidivist offender" after finding that it had engaged in unlawful industrial action. The militant union and eight of its officials have been fined more than $A2.4m in total over the industrial action at Sydney’s Barangaroo development in 2014. Justice Flick has also referred four CFMEU officials to the director of Public Prosecutions for possible further legal action over claims that they gave false testimony to the court.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Coalition bid to dry up ‘rivers of gold’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 12-Sep-17

The Federal Government is seeking to impose restrictions on payments made from employee entitlement funds. Under the Proper Use of Worker Benefits Bill, such funds would need to be registered with the Registered Organisations Commission, and to have one independent director, alongside employer and union-appointed directors. Funds would no longer be able to make payments to unions or employers’ groups, with the Australian Electoral Commission estimating that unions have received an average of $A25 million in payments from employee entitlement funds in the last five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Heat on unions’ super cash

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 11-Sep-17

The Federal Government will introduce legislation to increase the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s powers to force superannuation funds to disclose their payments to unions. The reforms will also allow fund members to be informed as to how their super contributions are being invested or redirected to unions or employers’ groups. It is estimated that super funds paid more than $A8m to unions in the form of "sponsorship" payments in 2016, with Cbus accounting for more than $A1m of these payments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, PLUMBING TRADES EMPLOYEES UNION, TWUSUPER, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, UNITED VOICE, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Unions ‘skim’ $130m off funds

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Sep-17

Data from the Australian Electoral Commission shows that the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union was paid around $A75m from employer-funded worker entitlement trusts between 2011-12 and 2015-16. In all, 14 unions were paid a total of $A130m from these trusts over a five-year period, with unions receiving more than $A58m in payments from redundancy funds and $A38m from training funds. There is little regulation of worker entitlement funds, which receive compulsory contributions from employers.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN METAL WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, COMMUNICATIONS, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, ENERGY, INFORMATION, POSTAL, PLUMBING AND ALLIED SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS

Boral’s threat to fire workers over building code unlawful

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 4-Sep-17

Most of De Martin & Gasparini’s employees in Sydney rejected proposed changes to their enterprise agreement in June, prompting parent company Boral to threaten all DMG employees with dismissal. The Federal Court has ruled that Boral acted unlawfully in threatening to sack DMG staff unless they endorsed changes to make their enterprise agreement compliant with the new building code. DMG subsequently secured a deal with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union to make its enterprise agreement compliant with the code.

CORPORATES
BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Union deals hit workers’ pay slips

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Sofia Gronbech Wright
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Sep-17

Analysis by the Department of Employment suggests that workers in the retail and fast-food sectors would need to work for up to 50 hours during the week to offset the impact of lower Sunday penalty rates in union-backed enterprise agreements. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the analysis refutes claims by unions and the Australian Labor Party that workers are compensated for lower weekend penalty rates via higher hourly pay rates during the week. However, the Australian Industry Group has questioned the validity of the analysis.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, DAVID JONES LIMITED, PIZZA HUT AUSTRALIA, McDONALD’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION