The unemployment rate has decreased 0.1% to 5.1% in August, the latest ABS Labour Force figures have revealed. The number of people unemployed decreased by 10,600 people to 622,600 in August, the ABS said. Full-time employment increased by 600 people to 8,071,400. Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten said the latest figures maintained Australi...
Unemployment down to 5.1%
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SDP Richards slams brakes on Qld Children's Hospital industrial action
Fair Work Australia has put the brakes on damaging unprotected industrial action undertaken by three unions on Queensland's $1.4 billion Children's Hospital project. Senior Deputy President Peter Richards issued a s418 stop order late yesterday, barring industrial action at the Brisbane site for six months. He said the stoppage was costing major co...
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CFMEU and branch official fined $200k for unprotected action
The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and its Western Australia assistant secretary Joe McDonald have been fined a total of $200,000 for organising unprotected action at the Queens Riverside Project in Perth in 2011. The bulk of the fine ($150,000) was for contempt of court, with McDonald and the union found guilty of breaching a co...
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Wage gap widens
The wage gap between states is widening again, after contracting during the global financial crisis (GFC), the ACTU Wages Report September 2012 says. Public sector wage increases continue to trail their pre-GFC levels, the report found. It said wage growth overall remained “solid and steady”, averaging 3.7% for the year. The full-time a...
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Editorial team
Editor: Rajiv Maharaj, (03) 8684 2139, rajiv.maharaj@thomsonreuters.com . Journalist: Steve Andrew. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Days lost to industrial disputes hits eight-year high
Days lost to industrial disputes spiked sharply in the June quarter, up 35,800 from the March 2012 quarter to 101,700. The latest ABS data says the marked increase represents the highest level of working days lost to industrial disputes since the June quarter 2004. There were 53 disputes in the June 2012 quarter, up by 10 from the previous quarter....
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Service sector continues to contract
WFD: The service sector continues to contract, with sharp falls in sales and new orders, the latest Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index reveals. The index for August, 2012 fell 4.1 points to 42.4 (readings below 50 represent a contraction). Factors cited included weak consumer demand, the high dollar...
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Fed Court reinstates subcontractor in significant adverse action ruling
WFD: Federal Court Judge Richard Tracey has granted an injunction ordering an Australia Post contractor to reinstate a subcontractor it sacked after he raised concerns about unpaid wages and superannuation. Justice Tracey issued the injunction on Tuesday (September 4), ordering Dee Vee to reinstate subcontractor Bill Damen to the position he held p...
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Threat to cancer patient welfare too uncertain to bar industrial action
WFD: In a significant decision, Fair Work Australia has rejected an "unusual" s424 application to stop industrial action based on the argument the health and welfare of cancer patients on waiting lists for treatment could be endangered a year from now. It is first time the tribunal has decided on an s424 matter with a lengthy delay between the prot...
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Footy club subject to rare unfair dismissal costs order
WFD: Fair Work Australia has ordered a rugby league club to pay a sacked worker's legal costs, finding its defence of her unfair dismissal claim had "no reasonable prospects of success". FWA had already ordered Queensland-based Sarina Leagues Club Incorporated to pay compensation to Michelle McKerrow for unfair dismissal. In a further application, ...
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ETU slams MBA move to strip safety from building industry award
WFD: The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has condemned a bid to remove the occupational health and safety provisions (OHS) from the building and construction general on-site award. The Master Builders Association (MBA) has moved to have the award clauses relating to OHS stripped from the 2010 award, claiming the clauses were "unlawful". Fair Work Aus...
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CFMEU and branch official fined $200k for unprotected action
WFD: The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and its Western Australia assistant secretary Joe McDonald have been fined a total of $200,000 for organising unprotected action at the Queens Riverside Project in Perth in 2011. The bulk of the fine ($150,000) was for contempt of court, with McDonald and the union found guilty of breaching...
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Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal calls for submissions
WFD: Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) President Jennifer Acton has called for submissions on matters the tribunal should consider as part of its annual work program. In a statement today, President Acton said submissions can be wide-ranging, and include "any or all of the sector or sectors of the road transport industry, the issues for the ...
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11th annual Workforce Conference:
November 16, Melbourne. Confirmed speakers include WR minister Bill Shorten, Fair Work Australia Vice President Graeme Watson, ACTU President Ged Kearney, and Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (construction division) national secretary Dave Noonan. Early bird registration discount available here .
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Diary
HRIZON 14th World HR Congress: September 26-27, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne. Australian Mines and Minerals Association East Coast Conference: October 11, Stamford Plaza Hotel, Brisbane. South Australia IR Society 2012 Convention: October 19, National Wine Centre, Adelaide. Queensland IR Society 'women in IR' 2012 network...
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Editorial team
Editor: Rajiv Maharaj, (03) 8684 2139, rajiv.maharaj@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: David Marin-Guzman. Journalist: Steve Andrew. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product code: 314021718375. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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High Court rejects ‘objective test' in Barclay v Bendigo
In a unanimous decision handed down today, the High Court has quashed the Full Federal Court's Barclay v Bendigo finding that what mattered in adverse action claims was the employer's "objective reason" for acting ( WF17615 ) . The High Court held that if a court accepted a decision-maker's evidence that they had not acted for a proscribed reason, ...
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Barclay reactions
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox welcomed the High Court's “common sense” approach (see High Court rejects ‘objective test' in Barclay v Bendigo) . “The Full Federal Court's decision created widespread concern amongst employers that union delegates may have become a ‘protected species'," Willox sa...
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High Court hears PSA challenge
The Public Service Association's (PSA) challenge to the NSW Government's 2.5% wage cap on public servants has gone before the High Court, which has reserved its decision. The PSA is arguing the Industrial Relations Amendment (Public Sector Conditions of Employment) Act 2011 is potentially invalid because s146C requires the Industrial Relations Comm...
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CFMEU assault on 4/1 rosters
Rosters for fly-in, fly-out workers are looming as a potential industrial troublespot going into 2013, with the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) promising an all-out assault on traditional four-weeks-on, one-off schedules. WA branch secretary Mick Buchan told Workforce this morning (September 7) the 4/1 roster “has seen its d...
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