The Federal Court has put unions on notice about what to expect from status quo provisions in dispute resolution clauses, tossing out the AMWU's bid for declarations and penalties against Opal Packaging for changing the way drug and alcohol tests are conducted.
On-hire workers employed by BHP's in-house labour provider and its external suppliers have today won same-job, same-pay orders, after a FWC full bench rejected arguments that the service provider exemption and a "fair and reasonable" requirement stood in the way.
The NTEU has claimed a significant win for job security in the tertiary sector, persuading the FWC that the recruitment clause in a sandstone university's agreement favours ongoing casual and fixed-term employees over external candidates when permanent or longer fixed-term roles come up.
The NTEU says Monash University will be liable for millions of dollars in backpay after the Federal Court today found it is required to pay casual tutors for scheduled consultations with students that don't count as part of work "associated" with tutoring.
Rio Tinto is pushing the FWC to reject the AWU's majority support application for the company's Paraburdoo iron ore mines, arguing that the union doesn't have the numbers and has failed to clearly define the scope of its proposed agreement.
A former Labor MP and current FWC deputy president has, after fending off another recusal application, dismissed claims it would be unfair, unreasonable or unconstitutional to grant same-job, same-pay orders lifting the pay of on-hire workers at a Whitehaven coal mine by up to $30,000 a year.
A government agency has been scolded for failing to pay travel allowances after admitting that it slipped its notice that the claims had been processed manually by two firefighters, one of whom retired while the other went on extended leave.
In a significant decision the ETU describes as "deeply troubling", the Federal Court has found full-time agreement-covered FIFO electricians working on a Fortescue mine project do not accrue paid leave during their monthly "rest and recreation" off-swing.
