LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Powerful new laws to break up the CFMEU

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Original article by Jade Gailberger
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 3-Jul-24

The Senate has voted 46-10 to pass a bill which will allow the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to hold a ballot on demerging. The Greens voted against the bill, which had been fast-tracked in response to threats by the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka to launch a "work to rule" campaign on future AFL-related construction projects unless the league sacks its head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney. However, shadow employment minister Michaelia Cash has described the legislation as a "minor slap on the wrist" to the CFMEU in response to Setka’s "outrageous bullying demands".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Miners win same pay for same job

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 2-Jul-24

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that labour hire workers at Batchfire Resources’ Callide coal mine in Queensland are entitled to the same pay as directly-employed workers who are covered by an enterprise agreement. Mitch Hughes from the Mining & Energy Union contends that WorkPac employees at the mine are currently paid between $10,000 and $20,000 less than direct employees. The FWC’s ruling is the first to be made via the federal government’s ‘same job, same pay’ industrial relations reforms. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says the ruling means that the "labour hire loophole is officially closed".

CORPORATES
BATCHFIRE RESOURCES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, WORKPAC PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

CFMEU condemns ALP’s demerge laws

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Jun-24

Federal government legislation that will allow the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge is expected to be passed by the Senate with the Coalition’s support. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says many members of the division do not feel properly represented by the CFMEU, including workers in female-dominated industries such as textiles. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith has doubled down on his warning that the proposed laws would set a dangerous precedent that could be used by a future government to break up unions.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Labor moves to break up CFMEU after Setka stoush

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jun-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke will introduce a bill to parliament next week to enable the CFMEU’s manufacturing division to demerge. The proposed legislation will allow the division to apply to the Fair Work Commission to leave the construction-dominated CFMEU. The federal government has been prompted to push ahead with the bill in response to demands from the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka for the AFL to sack its head of umpiring due to his former role as head of the defunct Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMEU’s mining division has previously demerged to form its own union.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Setka threat to AFL may be unlawful

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 14-Jun-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says the CFMEU’s proposed work-to-rule campaign against the AFL is likely to constitute unlawful industrial action. Steven Amendola, a partner at law firm Kingston Reid, adds that the threat of industrial action unless the AFL agrees to sack head of umpiring Stephen McBurney could breach adverse action laws; he also suggests that the threat could potentially fall within Victoria’s blackmail laws. The CFMEU’s John Setka contends that the proposed action is not unlawful as construction workers will simply adhere to their regular hours and not work overtime or on rostered days off.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, KINGSTON REID

Union launches BHP same pay challenge

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 13-Jun-24

The Mining & Energy Union has filed 10 applications in the Fair Work Commission to increase the wages of BHP’s labour hire workers under the federal government’s ‘same job, same pay’ laws. The initial applications cover about 1,700 workers at three of BHP’s coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin who are employed by WorkPac, Chandler McLeod and BHP’s own Operations Services subsidiary. The union is pushing for these workers to receive pay rises of between $10,000 and $40,000 in order to achieve pay parity with BHP’s direct employees. The MEU is expected to make further applications against BHP.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, WORKPAC PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED

Weak PM, Allan blamed as Setka loses plot over AFL

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jun-24

The AFL has expressed support for its head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney, amid threats from the CFMEU to launch a ‘work-to-rule’ campaign on league-related construction projects unless he is sacked. McBurney is the former head of the Australian Building & Construction Commission, and the CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka has described him as ‘anti-worker’. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the CFMEU is "out of control" and accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being too weak to stand up to a "union bully". The Victorian Opposition has in turn criticised Premier Jacinta Allan for failing to condemn the union’s actions.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

‘We will cause misery’: vengeful Setka stands over AFL

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 12-Jun-24

The Construction, Forestry & Maritime Employees’ Union has called for the dismissal of the AFL’s head of umpiring, Stephen McBurney. The CFMEU’s Victorian state secretary John Setka says the union will not pursue outright strike action, but it is prepared to impose a "work to rule" campaign on league-related construction projects while McBurney remains in his role. He adds that this will result in delays and cost over-runs on projects such as the new AFL stadium in Hobart. McBurney is the former head of the Australian Building & Construction Commission, which actively targed the CFMEU over breaches of workplace laws prior to its abolition after Labor took office in 2022.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN BULK ALLIANCE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Unions push for total ban on non-competes

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-Jun-24

The federal government is reviewing the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts, amid growing concern that they have become too prevalent. The issue will be on the agenda for the ACTU’s upcoming triennial congress, and the union movement will push for a blanket ban on the use of these clauses. ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell says post-employment restraints are having a "chilling" effect on the labour market. However, economists favour imposing restrictions on the use of these clauses instead of a total ban, arguing amongst other things that they are needed to protect the intellectual property of business start-ups.

CORPORATES
ACTU

Balancing act on minimum wage as low paid get 3.75pc

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Jun-24

Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher says the cost-of-living pressures facing people who are reliant on modern industry awards was a key factor in its decision to increase the minimum wage by 3.75 per cent. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the decision will deliver a small real wage increase to the 2.6 million workers on award rates and the minimum wage, although she is disappointed that the FWC has deferred a decision on the peak union body’s push for an additional wage rise of four per cent for workers in female-dominated sectors. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox in turn warns that workers on low wages will be at greater risk of unemployment and underemployment due to the ruling. The minimum wage will increase by $33 per week to $915.90 from 1 July.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP