LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Charities caught in staff pay inquiry

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman, Kylar Loussikian
The Australian – Page: 3 : 14-Apr-16

The Fair Work Ombudsman will investigate the underpayment of staff at call-centre operator MonDial Telephone Fundraising. The Sydney-based company, which is used by charities such as Greenpeace and Oxfam in their fund-raising activities, has conceded that its staff were not paid award rates. Tim Gunstone of the National Union of Workers says charities must ensure that third parties which provide fundraising support services do not exploit their employees. The NUW is keen for the for-profit charitable fundraising sector to be unionised.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, MONDIAL TELEPHONE FUNDRAISING, NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS, GREENPEACE, OXFAM, AUSTRALIAN MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY INCORPORATED, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, UNITED NATIONS. INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS’ EMERGENCY FUND

Labor leaves low wage to tribunal

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Apr-16

The Australian Labor Party will not make a submission on the Fair Work Commission’s review of the minimum wage. Workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor says Labor has confidence in the wage review process and believes that it will consider factors such as the rising cost of living. The ACTU is seeking a $A30 per week increase in the minimum wage. Employer groups have proposed a much lower increase, citing factors such as the uncertain economic outlook and Australia’s high minimum wage compared with some countries.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, UNITED VOICE, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Judge slams CFMEU’s ‘thuggery’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 10-Mar-16

Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta has imposed a penalty of $A9,000 on union official Scott Vink. The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union must pay $A48,000. Justice Vasta said that Vink’s behaviour towards non-union members was "sheer thuggery". Vink was found to have breached the Fair Work Act when he verbally abused non-CFMEU members on a building site in Brisbane on 5 March 2014.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FRANKIPILE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Building firms running unlawful ‘closed shop’, says watchdog

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 7-Mar-16

The director of Fair Work Building & Construction, Nigel Hadgkiss, has warned that a growing number of Australian employers are engaging in unlawful conduct. Some 18 of the 69 investigations being undertaken by the agency concern the conduct of employers. Hadgkiss notes that employers are frequently forcing subcontractors off building sites if they do not have enterprise agreements with the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union.

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FOREST MEIERS CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Union mergers a failure, says ex-ACTU official

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 4-Mar-16

The ACTU’s former assistant secretary Tim Lyons says mergers between trade unions have failed to arrest a decline in union membership. He argues that most mergers have been unsuccessful, and unions should develop strategies to ensure that the outcomes of future mergers meet expectations.

CORPORATES
ACTU, PER CAPITA AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Super union could ‘lock up the nation’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 &4 : 29-Feb-16

Master Builders Australia CEO Wilhelm Harnisch says a proposed merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia could have significant implications for industrial relations. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has also expressed concern about the merger’s potential impact on jobs, productivity and the economy. Meanwhile, MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin has flagged further merger with other unions if the deal with the CFMEU proceeds.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT UNION FEDERATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

‘Vigilante’ building workers face $10,800 fines

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 24-Feb-16

Fair Work Building & Construction (FWBC) intends to prosecute 52 construction workers at the Longford gas processing plant in Gippsland over unlawful industrial action in February 2015. The Australian Workers’ Union argues that the stop-work action was to protest against the dismissal of a probationary employee. The union’s Victorian secretary, Ben Davis, has criticised FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss for describing the actions of the workers as "vigilantism".

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FOREST MEIERS CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD

Fair Work to examine penalty rates

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Feb-16

Employers’ groups must make their final submissions to the Fair Work Commission’s review of penalty rates by 1 April 2016. The full bench has ruled that employers’ submissions can include the Productivity Commission’s recommendations on reducing Sunday penalty rates in industries such as retail and hospitality to bring them in line with those that apply on Saturdays. Unions’ submissions to the FWC review must be lodged by 21 March.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD

Fair Work decision exposes IR flaws: BHP

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Feb-16

BHP Billiton has criticised the Fair Work Commission for ruling that union officials can hold meetings with employees of the Caval Ridge mine at a dragline cabin rather than the site’s meal-break room. BHP argues that the ruling will adversely affect productivity at the Queensland mine. The dragline cabins are 2.4km from the mine’s meal-break room. The Fair Work Act was amended in 2013 to specify that union officials must hold meetings in meal-break rooms.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Union goes power crazy

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Original article by Stephen Drill
Herald Sun – Page: 5 : 22-Jan-16

The 600 workers at AGL Energy’s Loy Yang power station and coal mine in Victoria are seeking a pay rise of 20 per cent over four years. The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union’s log of claims includes paying employees for the time it takes to walk from the car park to their workstations. It is estimated that the proposed wage rise would increase the average worker’s salary to $A180,000 a year for a four-day working week.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA