Australian workplace laws have a "legislative preference" for registered unions to act as a "specific vehicle" for workers seeking to enforce their rights under industrial instruments, the Federal Court has heard.
BHP is offering workers in its in-house labour hire arm a $5000 sign-on sweetener ahead of a ballot on proposed deals that promise far less than a recently approved BMA agreement, while the union says the subsidiaries should be covered by Labor's proposed "Same Job, Same Pay" laws.
The ASU is urging members to vote up a new Qantas deal that blocks the outsourcing of ground handling roles but allows the Flying Kangaroo to shift about 850 "senior professionals" onto individual contracts.
Stevedoring giant Qube has failed to head off a multi-million lawsuit after the FWC found it had no standing to seek retrospective agreement variations affecting dockworkers' pay.
As the FWC seeks feedback on draft principles it will have to factor in when deciding whether deals are genuinely agreed, an early ACTU submission lists multiple ways employers should facilitate union involvement, along with a "rebuttable presumption" it is authentic where registered unions support approval.
TPG Telecom says it used a legal documents designer and best-practice inclusivity guidelines to create an engaging, accessible post-merger deal with "amazing" conditions, but the CEPU's communications division says it delivers a pay cut and unfairly shifts the goalposts on penalty rates.
The Australian Higher Education Industrial Association says it is doing its job by developing a roadmap for securing fast rollover agreements to avoid universities being "roped in" to multi-employer deals.
The ALAEA says a one-minute strike by Qantas licensed engineers played a crucial role in securing a proposed deal boosting job security as the Flying Kangaroo introduces new aircraft and enables Sydney LAMEs to radically change their roster to achieve "lifestyle benefits", while the airline has today confirmed it cut labour costs by about $570 million under its COVID-19 "recovery plan".
A judge irked by a multinational company's attempt to cast its underpaying subsidiary's award breaches as the court's "alternate interpretation" has imposed a near-maximum fine.
Some Australian universities have engaged in "passive resistance" when questioned over employee underpayments and record-keeping, according to Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker.
