Australian Labour and Employment Relations Association national conference : 'WORK - Then, Now & What's Next', May 26-28, Pier One Sydney Harbour, The Rocks, Sydney. More info here .
Diary
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Department of Infrastructure EA voted up in nail-biter
Department of Infrastructure (DOI) workers voted up an enterprise agreement (EA) last night by just 28 votes in a rare industrial win for the Federal Government. Of the 81% of DOI workers who took part in the ballot, 51.5% voted yes despite a Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) campaign against the deal. Meanwhile, in another voting cliff hang...
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HR manager involved in wages, records breaches: Court
The Federal Circuit Court has found a labour hire company's director and HR manager were “knowingly” involved in making unlawful wage deductions and falsifying pay records for casual cleaners at Melbourne's Federation Square and Crown Casino. The Fair Work Ombudsman told the court that Oz Staff Career Services Pty Ltd, now in liquidatio...
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Brothel owner involved in underpayments, adverse action
The Federal Circuit Court has found the owner of a Melbourne brothel and nephew of deceased drug lord Bob Trimbole was involved in underpayments and adverse action against a receptionist because she wouldn't sign an employment contract to be a casual. Judge Grant Riethmuller disagreed with Daily Planet Australia Pty Ltd director John Trimble that G...
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CFMEU merger needed for campaigning, organising: MUA
In a speech to the Maritime Union of Australia's(MUA) Quadrennial National Conference, national MUA secretary Paddy Crumlin said it needed to join forces withConstruction Forest Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) to be a well-resourced movement for better pay and conditions for blue- collar workers. Crumlin said the trade union movement needs to restructu...
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PM's staff reject ‘best deal possible'
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) has become the latest federal agency to vote down a government enterprise agreement (EA) offer. Last week, of the 74% of PM&C workers who took part in the ballot, 68% voted no. This is the second time PM&C has rejected a govt offer in five months and follows the Community and Public Se...
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Ditch state-based unions, focus on national: Combet
Former Aust Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Greg Combet has urged the union movement to get rid of state-based union structures and build nationally-focused organisations if it is to be in a position to respond to the dramatic changes affecting the economy. Combet also called on unions to address digital technologies and the notion of R...
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Coalition shrugs: too much work to develop national LSL
Political and industrial parties agree the mish-mash of Long Service Leave (LSL) schemes in Australia is “complex” and “confusing”, especially now the world of work has changed since the entitlement was first introduced. However, they remain divided over what changes if any need be made, according to the Senate Education &am...
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Ban union rights to non-member information: AMMA
The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) is calling on the Federal Government to change the Fair Work Act's “absurd” right of entry laws so as to ban union access to non-member documents and make it an offence to seek them. In a release today AMMA claimed the privacy of Australia's 11m employees was under threat following a re...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Gerard May. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Efficiency trumps FWC default on no-representation
A Fair Work Commission (FWC) full bench has upheld a decision allowing a security companylegal representation because the self-represented applicant was “highly articulate” and “understood the issues”. The bench - Vice President Graeme Watson, Senior Deputy President Lea Drake, and Commissioner Leigh Johns - found no appeala...
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GFB does not apply to EA voting conduct: full bench
Good faith bargaining (GFB) requirements do not directly apply to the timing and conduct of a vote for an enterprise agreement (EA) unless there is a “tangible” connection to the bargaining process, a Fair Work Commission full bench has held. The bench made the ruling in rejecting the Transport Workers Union's (TWU) GFB claim against a ...
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‘Usual' casuals set for LNG project not allowed to vote on EA
The Fair Work Commission has held a resource industry employer's entire workforce was not eligible to vote in an enterprise agreement ballot because they were casuals who were not employed “at the time” of the vote. Commissioner Nick Lee refused to approve McDermott Australia Pty Ltd's EA covering offshore construction work for the Icht...
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Small biz excused over dismissal flaws due to fear of confrontation
A small business acted validly when it summarily sacked a mechanic for pouring water into a customer's fuel tank without talking to the worker about the allegation and paying him two weeks pay in lieu because it did not wish to have a confrontation with him. AJ & T Pulbrook Pty Ltd t/a Brook Motors manager Warren Pulbrook fired Steven Guthrie w...
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MUA and CFMEU vote to begin merger talks
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) national conference delegates yesterday (February 29) passed a motion to authorise formal merger negotiations with the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU). The full proposal will be put to a membership ballot in 2016 or 2017 as the union has specified it will be up to the entire membership to deci...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Gerard May. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Employer ordered to pay $43k for unfairly sacking bullied worker
Despite acting in an erratic, repetitive, and unusual manner, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has awarded a worker the maximum compensation for being unfairly dismissed because his employer failed to properly investigate the worker's claims of being bullied. Commissioner Julius Roe said while PQ Australia Pty Ltd night shift packer Daniel Cole recor...
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Freedoms report refrains from IR change but FWBC powers in spotlight
Workplace relations laws have escaped specific referral for “encroachment of traditional rights and freedoms” in the final report of the Australian Law Reform Commission's freedoms review ( WF 06/08/16 , WF 24/07/15 ). However, the building industry watchdog's compulsory interview powers may come under scrutiny as part of the report's r...
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FWC defends freedom of speech on Facebook
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has defended employees' rights to talk and complain about their treatment at work on social media, in a decision finding a cake decorator was unfairly sacked for posting on Facebook that she had lost her job after refusing to convert to casual. Commissioner Julius Roe rejected that the social media comments were ̶...
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Vic Police vote up new EA with zero industrial action needed
The Victorian police have voted up a new enterprise agreement (EA) on Monday (February 29) that the police union says provides annual 3% pay rises and new penalty rates, all without having to resort to strike action. Following six months of intense negotiations the Vic Police Association (VPA) reached in-principle agreement late last year and stron...
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