LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Union membership slumps to record low, ABS finds

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Oct-15

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that just 1.6 million people across the economy are members of a union. The proportion of workers who are union members fell from 17 per cent to 15 per cent in the year to August 2014. Union membership in the private and public sectors has fallen to 11.1 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. However, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver estimates that about 1.8 million Australians are union members.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Union influence out of control: Ferguson

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Oct-15

Former ACTU president Martin Ferguson believes that trade unions have too much influence over the Australian Labor Party. The former federal MP has criticised Labor’s resistance to changes to the industrial relations system. Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Scott McDine has dismissed Ferguson’s criticism as hypocritical. As chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia, Ferguson represents the interests of employers in the tourism sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION

Labor won’t play PM’s ‘game’ on union power

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Original article by Stefanie Balogh, Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Oct-15

Legislation to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission and increase the governance standards of union officials have been blocked by the Senate twice. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned that industrial relations will be a focus of the Coalition’s 2016 election campaign unless the Opposition supports its proposed reforms. Meanwhile, the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union intends to review its governance following the trade union royal commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Malcolm Turnbull in fresh push to curb union power

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Oct-15

The Australian Government will press ahead with legislation to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC). The bill was narrowly defeated in the Senate in August 2015, while a bill to impose criminal sanctions on officials of registered organisations such as unions was also rejected by the Senate. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the proposed merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia highlights the need to reinstate the ABCC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWSPOLL

1000 crimes on building sites

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 15-Oct-15

Fair Work Building & Construction’s 2015 annual report highlights the Australian construction industry’s lack of compliance with industrial relations laws. The report shows that Construction, Forestry, Mining & ­Energy Union officials were responsible for most of the 948 breaches of workplace laws that were investigated by the Fair Work Building ­Industry Inspectorate in 2014-15. The complaints investigated by the agency included coercion, unlawful industrial action, and breach of laws governing freedom of association and right of entry.

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FAIR WORK BUILDING INDUSTRY INSPECTORATE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Labor to pass China FTA despite unions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 14-Oct-15

The Australian Government is expected to agree to some minor changes to the free trade agreement with China that have been endorsed by the Opposition’s caucus. The three amendments to the Migration Act relate to foreign workers who are hired on 457 visas. The trade deal is now expected to be passed by Parliament within weeks, allowing it to come into effect by the end of 2015. However, ACTU president Ged Kearney says the protection of Australian jobs is still a concern.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

Denials wear thin as evidence mounts

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Original article by Ben Schneiders
The Age – Page: 5 : 14-Oct-15

Melbourne’s EastLink tollroad project was finished well ahead of schedule, but evidence presented to the trade union royal commission demonstrates that industrial peace came at a cost. Julian Rzesniowiecki was a senior executive at Thiess John Holland, who kept records showing that the Australian Workers’ Union had proposed that Thiess pay $A300,000 for one union organiser to be on site. The proposal was put forward by current Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his capacity as head of the AWU. He had initially proposed that Thiess pay for four AWU members to be on site for the life of the project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten unlikely to reappear at commission

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Oct-15

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption will hear further evidence concerning the Australian Workers’ Union in the week beginning 12 October 2015. However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is not expected to be asked to front the inquiry again, as there have been no applications to cross-examine the former AWU national secretary. Shorten has been highly critical of the royal commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, CLEANEVENT PTY LTD, ACI GLASS PACKAGING, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, UNIBUILT, WINSLOW CONSTRUCTORS PTY LTD, CHIQUITA MUSHROOMS PTY LTD

Strikers still eligible for productivity bonus

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 6-Oct-15

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has rejected a bid by Thiess to overturn a previous ruling on the payment of a productivity bonus to coal miners who had gone on strike. The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union had argued that workers at the Mt Owen mine in New South Wales should be entitled to the productivity-linked component of a weekly allowance, despite being on strike for three months. The union had argued that an enterprise agrement did not specify any causes for non-payment of the bonus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THIESS PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

PM calls back reform summit

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-15

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has organised a summit with key representations of the business and community sectors to discuss economic reforms. The summit will be held on 1 October 2015, and will include Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver, Business Council of Australia Jennifer Westacott and Australian Council for Social Services CEO Cassandra Goldie. Issues such as superannuation tax breaks are likely to be on the agenda.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR WOMEN, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN YOUTH AFFAIRS COALITION INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SYDNEY INSTITUTE