The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has passed union-backed amendments to lift labour standards in free trade agreements, including inserting labour market testing requirements into the China free trade deal. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Paul Bastian and Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia ...
ALP moves to protect labour conditions in trade deals
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Labor accepts union push for 'full employment' objective
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has accepted a union-backed amendment to include an objective to achieve “full employment” as the party seeks to redefine its purpose amid moves to ditch its socialist objective. The conference began today (July 24) with speeches from recently elected ALP national secretary Mark Butle...
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Boral wins discovery of confidential ACCC interviews with CFMEU
Boral Resources (Vic) Pty Ltd has won a discovery bid for transcripts of ACCC compulsory examinations of construction union officials as part of its claim for damages against the union in its secondary boycott case. The Vic Supreme Court this week ordered the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) to hand over the transcripts to Boral af...
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PSA's NSW Home Care bans
The Public Service Association (PSA)'s Home Care members will implement NSW-wide bans after an urgent teleconference unanimously voted in favour of industrial action over the transfer of employees to the non-government sector. The PSA directed all members to not complete work related to: data remediation, accounts management, records mgmt, out-of-h...
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Appeal Roundup
Workforce's regular update on the latest crop of decisions awaiting appeal: CFMEU v Endeavour Coal Pty Ltd Decision reviewed : Full Federal Court majority decision that Endeavour Coal did not take unlawful adverse action by moving a worker off higher paid weekend shifts because the decision-maker was motivated by his “unpredictable” abs...
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‘Escalating sexual pursuit' exposed
The Vic Civil and Admin Tribunal (VCAT) has rejected a post office owner/manager's denial he sexually harassed a younger female casual employee by repeatedly propositioning her to have a sexual relationship with him. VCAT vice president Judge Pamela Jenkins found the woman's evidence was logical, consistent and unshaken, while he was evasive and un...
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Unused leave must be paid out at usual - not base - rate: Full Court
The Full Federal Court has held the Fair Work Act requires employers pay out accrued annual leave on termination at the usual rate including all penalty rates and loadings, rejecting a mining service company's appeal that it should be paid at the base rate. Centennial Northern Mining Services Pty Ltd was in dispute with the Construction Forestry Mi...
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AWU Esso bans were unintentional coercion: Federal Court
The Federal Court has found the Australian Workers Union (AWU) has committed industrial coercion and adverse action through work bans at Esso because some bans were not covered by the union's protected action notices. The decision highlights the importance of precisely identifying the nature of industrial action in notice of that action, as Justice...
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FWC sets precedent on employers' domestic violence obligations
In what is understood to be the first decision of its kind, the Fair Work Commission has ordered a Melbourne employer pay maximum compensation to a domestic violence victim who it unfairly sacked after telling her it could not protect her from her partner who worked in the same office. Architectural draftperson Leyla Moghimi said she was in fear fo...
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ALP backs universal domestic violence leave
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has backed a motion to make domestic violence leave a universal right, contained in the National Employment Standards. The motion, passed on the final day of the conference yesterday (July 26), follows a push by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to include 10 days' domestic violence leave in...
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ALP flags internship regulation
Unions NSW assistant secretary Mark Morey has flagged creating a new agency for workers to dob in unpaid internships that exploit workers and don't provide valuable skills or experience. Morey made the proposal on the floor of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference on Sunday (July 26). The conference voted to add to the ALP platform t...
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ALP condemns 'disgrace' Martin Ferguson
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has condemned former Australian Council of Trade Unions president Martin Ferguson as a “disgrace” for comments allegedly harming the party and the labour movement. The censure, carried without dissent yesterday (July 26), comes weeks after the Vic ALP declined to expel Ferguson despit...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Paul Karp. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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ALP conference backs crackdown on labour hire, casual worker test
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has approved two platform amendments signalling a crackdown on labour hire as a means to undercut pay and conditions of direct employment. On July 26 the conference approved changes to “reduce the incidence of underemployment and insecure work” including by delivering “an object...
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FWC backs CFMEU Qld over organiser sacking
The Fair Work Commission has upheld the Qld construction union's sacking of an organiser who failed to attend worksites and was accused of “bludging on the union”. Deputy President Peter Sams rejected ex- Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union Qld organiser Ben Loakes' explanations as “implausible” and “spin”,...
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Disciplinary ambush not reasonable management action: FWC
WFD: An employer springing a disciplinary meeting on an employee was a “threatening” rather than a reasonable management action, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found. Despite the ambush, FWC refused an order because the employer dealt with the probationary employee fairly after the incident and in the face of the worker's inflammato...
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ALP approves employer bargaining disclosure provision
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) national conference has given in-principle support to a framework for employers to disclose more information in enterprise bargaining, but has promised that employers will not have to disclose confidential information to unions and employee representatives. On Sunday (July 26) the conference backed a Rail Tram and B...
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Lomax blackmail arrest criminalising union's work: CFMEU
The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) has hit back at the arrest of ACT organiser John Lomax, claiming the charge of blackmail for an industrial matter amounts to “criminalising the work of unions”. On Friday (July 24) Lomax was arrested and charged with blackmail shortly before he was due to give evidence. The ACT Polic...
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Directors fined after short-changing backpackers while picking up $500k
Two company directors have been ordered to pay $11,800 each after they paid themselves half a million dollars while paying students and working holiday visa workers nothing at all. But while the penalties amounted to 90% of the maximum for individuals, the directors escaped compensatino orders and significantly larger corporation penalties because ...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Paul Karp. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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