LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

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

Five legal battles to watch in 2016

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 13-Jan-16

Some high-profile legal disputes in the Australian property sector will be contested in court during 2016. A tenancy dispute between Roy Morgan Research and Impact Investment Group will return to court in February. The Gary Morgan-led market research firm was briefly locked out of its offices in Melbourne’s Collins Street in late December 2015, before a court ordered Impact to grant access to the building. Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon will defend blackmail charges arising from an industrial dispute with Grocon that subsequently embroiled Boral. Sunland Group faces a damages claim by former employee Marcus Lee, while litigation is continuing between Grocon and APN Property Group.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, IMPACT INVESTMENT GROUP PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, GROCON PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SUNLAND GROUP LIMITED – ASX SDG, APN PROPERTY GROUP LIMITED – ASX APD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, PRIME RETIREMENT AND AGED CARE PROPERTY TRUST, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Coalition starts IR charm offensive

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 12-Jan-16

The Australian Government will need the support of six crossbench senators to get the Australian Building and Construction Commission Bill through the upper house. The Senate has already rejected the legislation twice, but the Government is committed to introducing it again when Parliament resumes in early February 2016. The proposed industrial relations reforms are aimed at cracking down on unions in the wake of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption and Governance.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Show of force as CFMEU fights back against blackmail charges

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 9-Dec-15

Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon will return to court on 15 March 2016, after being granted bail on blackmail charges. Several thousand CFMEU members convened in the Melbourne CBD to express their support for Setka and Reardon, who are accused of attempting to blackmail building materials group Boral. They have pleaded not guilty.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE MAGISTRATES’ COURT, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, GROCON PTY LTD, ACTU, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

CFMEU officials charged with blackmail against Boral

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Dec-15

Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 8 December 2015. They face potential jail sentences of up to 15 years after Victorian police charged them with blackmail. The charges relate to an industrial dispute with Grocon, which resulted in building materials group Boral being subject to black bans. It will be alleged that Setka threatened to escalate the bans on Boral unless it ceased supplying cement to Grocon.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, GROCON PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS, MELBOURNE MAGISTRATES’ COURT

Cbus workers charged over CFMEU leak

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-15

Former Cbus employees Maria Butera and Lisa Zanatta have been charged with giving misleading evidence to the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption. They allegedly leaked details of the superannuation fund’s members to Brian Parker, the New South Wales secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union. Parker may also be charged.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, LIS-CON HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MELBOURNE MAGISTRATES’ COURT, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION