WFD: The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and Patrick Stevedores are set to reignite their heated Port Botany Terminal dispute at the Fair Work Commission (FWC) this Wednesday (May 3). Last Friday (April 28) Deputy President Peter Sams dismissed MUA's interim order application to restrain Patrick from requiring employees to load containers from pa...
MUA loses FWC bid to stop loading containers in Qube yard
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FWC pushes for Federal Court review of Watson matter
WFD: The Fair Work Commission has invited feedback on draft questions of law for possible referral to the Federal Court after former vice president Graeme Watson's departure left the full bench matter on domestic violence leave in limbo ( WF 28/4/17 ). President Justice Iain Ross had previously called for submissions on whether the absence of VP Wa...
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Auditor slams overuse of contractors
WFD: A NSW Auditor General report suggests State Government agencies are using too many contractors, with limited oversight of their work and “unproven” value for money. The report, Contingent workforce , looked at the use of contractors by three state agencies - transport, industry and education. It found the three had processes in pla...
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Caltex reveals $20m compensation fund for underpaid workers
WFD: Caltex Australia Limited has today announced plans to establish a $20m assistance fund for franchisee employees who had been underpaid. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Caltex said the company wanted to “do the right thing by franchisee employees” despite insisting it had no liability to pay their lawful entitlement...
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Weekly earnings languish
WFD: Average weekly earnings rose $13 from 2014 to 2015 as female workers continued to earn significantly less than their male counterparts, new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows. The ABS's Characteristics of Employment Survey released today revealed mean or average weekly earnings for employees and owner managers of incorporated ent...
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FWC streamlines agreement approval process
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has refined its process for approving enterprise agreements (EA) to boost its transparency, efficiency and user-friendliness. President Justice Iain Ross said in a statement today the changes arose from consultations with peak industry bodies. Bargaining representatives will now receive a confirmation email after...
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Diary
Issac Industrial Relations Symposium 2017, May 10 at Monash University, Melbourne. More info here . Harvester Revisited: May 15 at Supreme Court of Victoria, Melbourne. More info here . National Manufacturing Summit: June 21 in Canberra. More info here . NexGen 2017 : June 26-28, International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, More info h...
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Editorial Team
Editor: Annie Lawson (03) 8684 2127, 0422 567 004, annie.lawson@tr.com Chief Journalist: Gerard May Journalist: Steve Andrew Managing Editor: Peter Schwab Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Big stink brewing as garbage strikes may hit Melbourne city wide
Citywide Service Solutions workers have rejected the company's latest enterprise agreement (EA) offer 72 votes to 32, the Australian Services Union (ASU) has said. Vic Tas branch secretary Richard Duffy told Workforce he is about to meet with members to discuss the company's offer and the option of strike action will be on the table. Duffy said the...
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ASU members set to reject City of Melbourne's third EA offer
City of Melbourne and the Australian Services Union (ASU) are at loggerheads over a new enterprise agreement (EA), with the employer rejecting a union bid to go to arbitration while workers have decided to reject Melbourne's latest, and third, offer. ASU members decided at a May 4 meeting to reject the latest offer unless the council improves it, t...
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Surge in insecure work demands policy overhaul
A major British study has found a surge in zero-hours contracts, temporary agency work and bogus self-employment has heightened the need for work rights to be aligned with the structural shift in modern employment practices taking place across Europe. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) report International trends in inse...
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SDA seeks judicial review of penalty rate decn
The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) plans to seek a judicial review of any Fair Work Commission (FWC) determination relating to its decision to cut penalty rates, claiming the ruling was tainted by jurisdictional error ( WF 23/2/17 ). The SDA argued in a May 4 submission to the FWC the cmn's full bench erred in its “a...
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Unions shift growth focus to new economy
Unions NSW says it is looking to the new economy for growth opportunities, following this week's “world-first” national deal covering gig workers. A heads of agreement being negotiated between Unions NSW and Airtasker will see people bidding for work through the online jobs platform guaranteed pay rates above comparative award rates - a...
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WA public sector faces steep job losses
The new Western Australian Labor government has ordered a review of the state's public service in a bid to identify $750m in cost savings, but has yet to forecast the scale of expected job losses. It has budgeted $500,000 for the service priority review to investigate public sector operations and culture and develop a raft of new key performance in...
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BREAKING NEWS: Victoria introduces labour hire reforms
The Victorian Government has today announced plans to licence the labour hire sector as part of widespread reforms aimed at clamping down on worker exploitation. The changes follow the Victorian inquiry into the labour hire industry and insecure work, with the govt accepting 33 of the report's 35 recommendations ( WF 28/10/16 ). The overhaul of the...
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Fed Govt faces calls for a national labour hire licensing scheme
The Federal Government is under pressure to follow in Victoria and Queensland's footsteps and introduce a labour hire licensing scheme to crack down on rogue operators. However, the Commonwealth has so far been tight-lipped on its plans while Victoria faces calls to expand its scheme announced last Friday (May 5) to mirror the Queensland Govt regim...
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Sacked employee entitled to $138k despite adverse action claim failing
A “hard nut” employer did not subject a white collar worker to unlawful adverse action even though it tried to force him to take on manual labouring duties and then dismissed him when he refused, the Federal Circuit Court has found. Nevertheless, CMP Controls Pty Ltd must pay former senior buyer John Barbieri $138,498.42 in redundancy p...
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Vic Govt claims power strike could endanger lives, trigger black outs
The Victorian Government has claimed protected industrial action at AGL Energy's Loy Yang power stations would trigger widespread black outs, endanger lives and damage the economy. IR minister Natalie Hutchins applied for the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to terminate the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) Victoria's proposed protected industrial action. T...
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‘Additional remuneration' failed to float employer boat
Employer groups have withdrawn a submission to replace the phrase “penalty rates” with “additional remuneration” in the hospitality and pharmacy awards, citing a lack of peer support. The Australian Hotels Association (AHA), the Accommodation Association of Australia (AAA) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) said in a ...
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NSW IRC upholds sacking of cleaner working a 76-hr, 7-day week
A council parks cleaner sacked after he refused to reduce his 76-hour, seven-day working week by cutting his hours at a second job at Woolies was not unfairly dismissed, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission has ruled. Phillip Grafton argued Waverley Council had no right to question his hours, saying both full-time jobs were “low risk”...
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