WFD: The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) has agreed to amend its right-of-entry education material after the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) accused it of publishing inaccurate information. The union said the website incorrectly advised a union representative could only hold discussions with workers during m...
ABCC refines RoE material
↧
↧
EA vote ends AGL Loy Yang power dispute
WFD: AGL Energy Limited (AGL) has ended a bitter bargaining deadlock after the majority of Loy Yang A power station and mine workers voted in favour of the company's proposed enterprise agreement (EA). The power giant revealed in a statement, workers at the Victorian coal fired power station and mine approved the EA in a secret ballot held yesterda...
↧
Human capital investment ‘central ingredient' for growth: RBA
WFD: Investing in human capital was a “central ingredient” in capitalising on technological progress and promoting growth, the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has advised. Lowe told the Crawford Leadership Forum on Monday (June 19) “heavy investment in human capital” is required to “create and seize thes...
↧
FWC rejects claim media coverage caused ‘drastic consequences'
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has awarded a worker more than $10k for being unfairly dismissed despite the employer's claim a newspaper article about the matter had brought the company “to our knees”. Vice President Adam Hatcher found the worker was not responsible for the article's content and there was no evidence to support the...
↧
Ex-GM to pay $447k over dodgy invoices
WFD: The NSW Supreme Court has ordered a former general manager of a freight company to pay it $447,297 in compensation after he wrongly authorised payment of invoices from some suppliers and contractors. Nick Rimac was responsible for engaging third-party suppliers and contractors, and approving third-party supplier and contractor invoices at Visa...
↧
↧
Xenophon EA inquiry receives the go ahead
WFD: The Senate inquiry into substandard enterprise agreements (EAs) by large employers will soon be established after SA Senator Nick Xenophon won support from Labor and the Greens for his motion in Parliament on Monday (June 19). The inquiry will examine claims employees received below award rates in some EAs despite the better off overall test (...
↧
Police hit Kathy Jackson with new charges
WFD: Kathy Jackson will face 164 chargers for theft and gaining financial advantage by deception in a four-week trial, the Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard on Monday (June 19). The Victoria Police prosecution team dropped some of the original charges but redrafted and added new ones against Jackson, who attended court with partner and ex-Fair Wor...
↧
Franchisee fined $180k for illegal cash back scheme
WFD: The Federal Circuit Court has fined a former franchisee operator more than $180,000 for “inappropriate and grotesque exploitation” after forcing an overseas worker to repay $18,000 of his wages. Judge John Jarrett found the former Coffee Club café franchisee in Brisbane breached the Fair Work (FW) Act. This was after Saandeep Chokh...
↧
FWC overrules refresher training requirement in RoE matter
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found four union officials passed the fit and proper person test in their right-of-entry (RoE) application despite failing a requirement for refresher training. The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) applied to the FWC for RoE permits under s512 of the Fair Work (FW) Act for CEO Geoffrey ...
↧
↧
Coalition MP seeks to thwart penalty rate cuts
WFD: Federal Nationals MP George Christensen has today introduced to Parliament a private members' bill to prevent the introduction of cuts to Sunday penalty rates due to take effect on July 1. His Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay of All Workers) Bill 2017 would ensure penalty rates were “unable to be reduced in any future greenf...
↧
Building code faces legal test
WFD: The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) is seeking to have the Federal Court overturn a ruling the union claims would remove the employment rights of hundreds of SA Power Networks workers. The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) last month issued a determination that SA Power Networks employees from the co...
↧
Differences between contractor and employee ‘finely balanced'
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found a worker was ineligible to have his unfair dismissal application heard because the work he started doing for a small business in December 2011 had primarily been as a contractor, before working as an employee for it less than 12 months. Despite finding Stephen Brooker had worked as an independent contra...
↧
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
↧
↧
Time for ‘Work Choices' campaign against EA terminations: AMWU
Unions are protesting outside Exxon-Mobil's Longford gas plant in Gippsland, Victoria claiming the oil and gas giant has switched maintenance contractsto reduce workers' pay and conditions. The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) has told Workforce unions need to run a long term “Work Choices type” Your Rights at Work campaig...
↧
Setka ‘truly apologises' for threats to visit ABCC inspectors' homes
John Setka has said his comments targeting Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) inspectors and their families at Tuesday's (June 20) rally ( WF 21/6/2017 ) were made in the “heat of the moment” and were taken out of context. The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) Vic branch secretary said he “truly...
↧
Unions challenge penalty rate cuts in Fed Court
United Voice (UV) and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) have today applied to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) decision to cut weekend and public holiday penalty rates ( WF 23/02/17 ). The unions, which represent workers in the hospitality, retail and fast food sectors, are seeki...
↧
Australian workers at Sydney's Spanish Consulate seek 20% rises
On press day staff at Sydney's Spanish Consulate have gone on indefinite strike claiming they have suffered a nine year pay freeze, without even gaining wage increases in line with inflation. In a statement the workers said the Spanish Government had refused the locally hired eight Australian citizens and residents pay increases since 2009. Their s...
↧
↧
Fed Court dismisses ABCC claim CEPU threatened contractor
The Federal Court has upheld a union's right to lobby contractors ahead of projects after finding the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) had not threatened or coerced a contractor into securing a union enterprise agreement (EA). The decision raises questions about the Australian Building & Construction Commission's (ABCC) investiga...
↧
Uber's contractual right to 'deactivate' unsafe drivers: WA
A fatigued Uber driver will unlikely be able to appeal the cancellation of his registration with the ride-sharing app, after the Western Australian Court of Appeal ordered he pay $10,000 to the court or to an agreed account as security for costs. Finding the driver's prospects of overturning the trial judge's orders "very weak", Justice Robert Mitc...
↧
Diary
NexGen 2017 : June 26-28, International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, More info here .
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
