LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Bosses should give union delegates iPads: CFMEU

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 3-Apr-24

The CFMEU’s construction division has urged the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum rights of union delegates in the building industry award. The CFMEU has used its FWC submission to call for all union delegates on construction sites to be given access to employer-funded office facilities, including a telephone, a table and chairs, and an iPad with internet access. The CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith contends that union delegates would use iPads to undertake compliance and safety checks on construction sites. The proposal has been criticised by employers’ groups.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

ACTU’s 5pc wage push sets up showdown

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Mar-24

The ACTU will use its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review to call for an above-inflation increase of five per cent. This would increase the minimum wage to $24.39 an hour, or $48,200 a year. ACTU secretary Sally McManus contends that workers on the lowest pay are hardest hit by inflation, and they need a pay rise of five per cent to make up for the real wage losses over the last several years. The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry will in turn push for the minimum wage to be increased by no more than two per cent, following a large rise in both the minimum wage and award wages in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Unions want right to approach non-members at work in bid to bolster numbers

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Original article by Angus Thompson
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 6-Mar-24

The first tranche of the federal government’s Closing Loopholes legislation included the right for unions to appoint delegates in workplaces, and for that delegate to act on behalf of employees who are eligible to join the union. The ACTU wants the Fair Work Commission to insert a clause in all industry awards that includes a right for delegates to communicate with workers about joining the union. Jessica Tinsley from the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says the legislation restricts delegates to engaging in "reasonable communication" with employees about their industrial interests; she contends that this should not apply to communications that are solely about joining the union.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

BHP train drivers to get $300,000 plus bonus

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 16-Feb-24

BHP has averted industrial action after agreeing to a new pay deal with its iron ore train drivers in the Pilbara that will see their base salary rise to more than $300,000 over the next four years. The in-principle agreement with the Mining & Energy Union includes an immediate pay rise of four per cent, followed by four annual increases of four per cent. The train drivers will also receive two retention bonuses of $20,000; the first will be paid immediately, with the second to be paid in 12 months’ time. The protected industrial action that was slated to disrupt iron ore rail shipments to Port Hedland from Friday will no longer proceed.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINING AND ENERGY UNION

BHP’s train drivers to strike

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 13-Feb-24

BHP’s iron ore shipments from the Pilbara are set to be disrupted after 97 per cent of train drivers who are members of the Mining & Energy Union voted in favour of industrial action. The union has organised a 24-hour strike on Friday as part of negotiations for a new enterprise agreement. The train drivers rejected a proposed agreement in December, and BHP’s Warren Wellbeloved says it was a " fair and generous offer". The strike will be the first since 2008 in the Pilbara’s iron ore industry, which is largely deunionised.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MINING AND ENERGY UNION

CFMEU seals 25pc pay rise deal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 6-Feb-24

Construction group Multiplex has reached a deal on a new enterprise agreement for its Western Australian workers who are members of the CFMEU. The new agreement includes a pay rise of 25 per cent over four years, comprising an immediate increase of 10 per cent and followed by three annual pay rises of five per cent. Zach Smith, the national secretary of the CFMEU’s construction division, rejects suggestions that the wage deal will be inflationary. Industrial action at Multiplex sites in WA that was scheduled for this week has been cancelled in the wake of the pay deal.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, BROOKFIELD MULTIPLEX LIMITED

CFMEU to Burke: Stay out of DP World row

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 17-Jan-24

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is slated to meet with executives from port operator DP World Australia on Thursday. The stevedoring firm is likely to urge the federal government to intervene in its long-running dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia. Opposition leader Peter Dutton recently urged Burke and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to step in, contending that failure to do so would give the MUA a ‘green light’ to keep pursuing industrial action. However, the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith warns that government intervention in the dispute would set a "dangerous precedent".

CORPORATES
DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Union accused of bad faith over new work bans

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Original article by Nick Bonyhady
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 10-Jan-24

The Maritime Union of Australia may seek to expand its industrial action against container terminal operator DP World Australia. Amongst other things, the MUA has indicated that it may delay arriving cargo ships for 16 hours and impose indefinite work bans on some vessels. DP World and the MUA commenced three days of negotiations on Tuesday, the same day the union flagged a potential escalation of the industrial action in documents sent to DP World. Nicolaj Noes has questioned whether the MUA is bargaining in good faith, given that the papers are dated 6 January.

CORPORATES
MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, DP WORLD AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DP WORLD

Union bosses demand cost-of-living relief as PM flags further measures

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 29-Nov-23

Prime Minister Albanese has told Labor MPs that the cost-of-living crisis has been at the top of the federal government’s top agenda, but he acknowledged that it must do more to assist households in the next year. ACTU secretary Sally McManus and the CFMEU’s national secretary Zach Smith have urged the government to make cost-of-living relief a priority; the latter has advocated measures such as a super profits tax on big business and short-term measures such as cutting the fuel excise or subsidising energy bills.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

ACTU calls for fairer, stronger IR reform

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 25-Oct-23

The ACTU has used its submission to the Senate’s inquiry into the Closing Loopholes Bill to propose 44 amendments that it claims would improve the legislation. Amongst other things, the peak union body wants the "employee-like" provisions of the bill to be expanded to all employees with such arrangements, rather than just gig economy workers. It also wants the Fair Work Commission to have powers to arbitrate on the question of whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, and for superannuation to be included in the provisions of the bill regarding wage theft.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION