Mining giant Glencore sprang a second lockout on workers at its Ulan No.3 underground thermal coal mine this morning, which the MEU says is a "clear sign" that after 18 months of negotiations, bargaining has become intractable, ahead of an IBD hearing next week.
Faced with "simply unsustainable" growth in its caseload, the FWC is seeking to improve efficiency, starting with general protections cases involving dismissals, up by 27% over five years, partly on the back of paid agents using them as a "substitute" for unfair sacking claims, the tribunal's president said today.
CFMEU administrator Mark Irving has released a draft "mediators and other fixers" policy, to help to identify figures engaging in "industrially undesirable" activities and the limited circumstances in which union employees can contact them, as the Coalition calls for national secretary Zach Smith's head.
The FWC has thrown out a worker's unfair dismissal claim after he threatened his employer's chief executive with a "double tap to the head", disobeyed FWC directions and sent the employer more than 200 emails in a single week containing "nonsense" and further menaces.
A court has fined an employer more than $42,000 for refusing to let AMIEU NSW branch assistant secretary Jason Schultz enter its lunchroom to speak with workers the day before they were to vote on a new agreement, while also threatening to call the police.
The Albanese Government has confirmed it has not undertaken any work to pursue the promised introduction of a Federal portable leave scheme since it "paused" consultation on the entitlement last year.
The Western Mine Workers Alliance is considering industrial action at BHP Iron Ore's South Flank and Area C sites in the Pilbara, after the company put forward a draft "baseline" agreement that fails to provide any annual increases, which unions claim is "extremely rare" in the sector.
Employers will be required from July next year to make super contributions within seven calendar days of paying their workers' wages and salaries, under legislation introduced today by the Albanese Government.
The Albanese Government has this morning introduced legislation to ensure that, unless expressly agreed otherwise, workers will not lose out on employer-funded paid parental leave if their child is stillborn or dies soon after birth.
