Employer groups have welcomed talks with the Morrison Government on the part they can play in advancing the vaccine rollout once Pfizer supplies improve, including workplace vaccinations, but they are still awaiting assurances on indemnity and liability.
The FWC has avoided "unconscionable injustice" to a female Qantas pilot, finding it lacked the power to deal with colleagues' belated challenge to her seniority during a COVID-19-driven "every man for themselves" scramble for the lifeboats.
Bargained wage rises in the private sector show little sign of pushing towards the "materially higher" benchmark set by the RBA, growing at 2.6% for the second quarter in a row, while public sector bargaining collapsed.
Woolworths has confirmed it will pay the 2.5% minimum wage increase to employees from the first week of next month, avoiding a repeat of the dispute it had last year with retail unions over the timing of pay rises to workers in its supermarkets and Big W stores.
Qantas says it will apply a two-year wage freeze in the next round of enterprise agreements across the group, followed by 2% annual pay increases instead of the current 3%.
The merger between the Transport Workers Union and the Virgin Independent Pilots Association in July will lead to the creation of a pilots' division within the TWU, subject to VIPA members approving the nuptials in a ballot.
Virgin cabin crew have decisively voted up a new deal after trouncing a previous offer, with the FAAA laying out expectations the reborn airline must reward workers for their "sacrifice" when it recovers from the pandemic's hit to its operations.
The Department of Home Affairs has failed to convince the FWC it was not obliged to consult workers before introducing new policies governing social media use, interactions with children and a dress code deeming sleeveless clothing "unsuitable".
The FWC has shot down an aged care home's "one employer policy" introduced in the chaotic early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering it to re-engage a part-time musical therapist jettisoned after she continued to work at three other facilities.
The FWC has given Santos, and AWU and the AMWU a recommended framework for consulting over pandemic-related proposals such as quarantining, suggesting they discuss current disputes concerning the gas giant's Cooper Basin workforce with a view to putting it into practice.
