WFD: The Fair Work Commission has invoked a recent full bench finding in granting a former solicitor permission to be represented by a lawyer in an unfair dismissal matter. Not-for-profit organisation Re-Engage Youth Services Incorporated argued against use of lawyers, claiming they were an unnecessary cost burden. It claimed the matter should be a...
Former solicitor not barred from legal representation
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Permanents and casuals stick together for Toll Kmart deal
WFD: At presstime, the National Union of Workers (NUW) confirmed it has struck a deal with Toll for more than 300 workers at the Toll Kmart Distribution Centre in Victoria. The three-year deal, which the workers have voted up, includes pay increases of 2.5%, 2.5% and 2%; 43 new permanent jobs; breaks for casuals working four-hour shifts; improved r...
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Editorial Team
Chief Journalist: Emily Woods. Journalists: Steve Andrew, Rajiv Maharaj. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Contact (02) 8587 7681 and peter.schwab@tr.com . Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Police investigate media tip off
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is investigating how media were tipped off about its raids on Australian Workers' Union (AWU) offices earlier this week, as the Federal Court made fresh orders stopping documents seized in the raids from being handed over. The raids, on Tuesday (October 24), caused a political storm for the Federal Government, wi...
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Dumb and dumber
Comment: No-one has come up smelling of roses over the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) raids. A minister says the raids were the business of an independent organisation - and, no, this time not the Australian Building and Construction Commission - and she didn't know what was happening in her office. Journalists dob in their source. A press secreta...
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Fed Court throws out Energy Australia ‘collateral attack' on FWC
The Federal Court has tossed out an Energy Australia “collateral attack” on a Fair Work Commission full bench decision, saying to allow the case to proceed would “undermine confidence in the administration of justice”. Justice Mordy Bromberg made the sharp remarks in an interlocutory application by the Australian Manufacturi...
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Resolution of doctors' dispute near
Resolution of the long-running salaried doctors pay dispute in South Australia appears near. In a statement to Workforce on pressday (October 27), health minister Peter Malinauskas said “productive” negotiations with the SA Salaried Medical Officers Association (SASMOA) would likely see the government make a formal offer to the union ...
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CA to review pay talks stoush
Cricketers have welcomed Cricket Australia's commitment to hold an internal review of bitter pay talks that left players temporarily unemployed and test series in doubt ( WF 3/08/2017 ). In a press conference on Tuesday (October 24), Cricket Australia (CA) chairman David Peever said he was “happy” with the final form of the agreed Memor...
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Principal and contractor fined for right of entry breaches
The Federal Court has fined a construction company and its subsidiary $12,000 each for refusing to allow a Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) official right of entry to inspect a safety issue. The court heard Decmil Engineering refused to allow Fergal Doyle to enter a Hastings, Victoria construction site in 2016 to inspect safety con...
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Membership getting older: teachers union
NSW and ACT Independent Education Union (IEU) branch secretary John Quessy is concerned about the lack of younger people joining the union. In his report to IEU's annual general meeting, Quessy said the latest statistics showed significant member density among people aged over 45 years. Up to 80% were over 55 in some sectors but fewer than 40% were...
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CFMEU top brass RoE permit suspended for 3 months
The Fair Work Commission has suspended Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) South Australian division secretary David Kirner's right of entry (RoE) permit for three months. The decision is the culmination of proceedings related to RoE breaches in 2013 when Kirner entered a site without notice and ignored directions to leave. In Novembe...
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Further 170 jobs to go at Optus
Optus continues to cut jobs as part of a claimed efficiency drive, announcing the closure of its network management centre and the loss of 170 jobs. In May 2017 the company announced 340 jobs would go, mainly in management roles. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) at the time said it would work with the company to discuss redeployment opportunit...
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White and blue-collar unions battle over final form of BCC EA
White and blue-collar unions will do battle in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) next month on whether they can be forced to vote on a 2.5%-a-year pay increase from Brisbane City Council ( WF 20/10/17 ). On October 10, the QIRC granted an injunction stopping Brisbane City Council (BCC) from putting to a vote an enterprise agreem...
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Qld Parlt passes safeguards for building subcontractors
The Queensland Parliament has passed legislation to improve security of payment to subcontractors in the construction industry. The Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017 followed a Senate report that revealed some licensees in the industry were delaying or not making payments to subbies. The Bill amends the Qld Building and Con...
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Court staff begin two days of strikes tomorrow
Federal court workers across Australia will walk out tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday (November 1 and 2) on rolling strikes, as their enterprise agreement (EA) dispute continues. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has told Workforce Daily its members in the Federal, Family and Federal Circuit courts and the National Native Title Tribunal...
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Murray Goulburn workers await fate as dairy giant sells to Saputo
At press time, the National Union of Workers (NUW) was seeking urgent talks with Murray Goulburn following the dairy giant's decision to sell to Canadian company Saputo for $1.3 billion. The NUW wants assurances workers' terms and conditions will not change in the transfer of business, which still needs approval from the Australian Competition and ...
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AMWU calls for Streets ice-cream boycott
Australians are being urged to boycott ice-cream brand Streets to send a message to parent company Unilever, as the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) ramps up its increasingly icy dispute with the company. In August, Unilever applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate the enterprise agreement (EA) at Streets' Minto site in NSW, af...
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New OECD study reveals generous minimum wage = better health
Generous minimum wages lead to better health, less obesity and fewer deaths, a novel study examining the relationship between minimum wages and health outcomes in 24 OECD countries, including Australia, has found. In a paper to be published in the November edition of The European Journal of Health Economics , academic Dr Otto Lenhart, a specialist ...
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Editorial Team
Chief Journalist: Emily Woods. Journalist: Rajiv Maharaj. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Contact (02) 8587 7681 and peter.schwab@tr.com . Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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AMWU calls for Streets ice-cream boycott
Australians are being urged to boycott ice-cream brand Streets to send a message to parent company Unilever, as the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) ramps up its increasingly icy dispute with the company. In August, Unilever applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate the enterprise agreement (EA) at Streets' Minto site in NSW, af...
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