LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

SDA canvasses penalty cut

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 18-May-16

The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association does not support a push to reduce penalty rates for working on weekends. However, its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s review of weekend penalty rates proposes that workers be given the right to refuse to work on Sundays if the FWC rules that Sunday penalty rates should be reduced to the level that applies for working on Saturdays.

CORPORATES
SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. ROAD SAFETY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Pressure on Shorten over penalty rates

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

The Fair Work Commission is likely wait until after the 2016 federal election to issue its ruling on weekend penalty rates. Unions have urged Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to introduce greater protection for employees who receive penalty rates, although the Australian Labor Party has previously indicated that it will not oppose the FWC’s ruling if it recommendations a reduction in Sunday penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ACTU

Unionists descend into business-class warfare

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Apr-16

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver has accused Tourism Accommodation Australia chairman Martin Ferguson of hypocrisy. Ferguson has called for Sunday penalty rates in the hospitality industry to be reduced, but Oliver notes that the former federal Australian Labor Party minister’s parliamentary Gold Pass allows him to travel business-class while advocating a reduction in the wages of low-paid employees. The Fair Work Commission is reviewing weekend penalty rates in sectors such as hospitality and retailing.

CORPORATES
ACTU, TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Unions to push for penalty rates law

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 26-Apr-16

Unions have criticised Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for indicating that he will support the Fair Commission’s decision if it rules in favour of reducing Sunday penalty rates. They argue that his comments undermines the union movement’s "Save Our Weekend" campaign, and the Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari says unions will seek to have minimum penalty rates included in the National Employment Standards if the Opposition wins the 2016 federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIAN TRADES HALL COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

CFMEU fights Lendlease to fly flags

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Apr-16

The removal of union flags from cranes at Lend Lease’s apartment project in Brisbane has triggered a strike by construction workers. Lawyers for the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union argued before the Fair Work Commission that Lend Lease’s action was an attack on "a workplace right", but the commission rejected this argument and ordered workers to return to work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS, PAINTERS’ AND PLASTERERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

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