The Offshore Alliance and ETU are up in arms after Bechtel warned them that unless they drop their "intractable" 30% wage demands for the Pluto Train 2 Project by Monday, it will bar them from bargaining meetings and deal only with the AMWU and CFMEU.
Victoria's Catholic school teachers and support staff have rejected a non-union agreement offer, while the IEU says support is growing for its application for a single interest bargaining authorisation through which it is seeking to secure a statewide deal.
The CFMEU has won same-job, same-pay orders that it expects will lift the pay of labour hire doggers, riggers, and crane operators performing shutdown maintenance at a WA gold mine by up to 125%.
The IEU has filed a "historic" single interest bargaining authorisation application to force Victoria's Catholic school bosses to negotiate a sector-wide deal, while the employer peak body is today awaiting feedback on an offer put directly to teachers and support staff.
The implications of the Federal Court's retail underpayments decision are only starting to be understood, with employment law academic Andrew Stewart warning of the significent consequences of its redefinition of employer record-keeping obligations and findings on proving workers' agreement to vary award conditions.
The FSU says employers are now on notice that they must have genuine business grounds for refusing flexible work arrangements, after the FWC made orders to enable a Westpac employee to work from home to care for her children, finding "no question" her role can be "performed completely remotely".
In its first use of the new power to unilaterally amend the terms of substandard proposed agreements, the FWC has signalled it will rewrite provisions in three Aldi enterprise deals that leave storepersons worse off, to enable their approval.
Grill'd is lauding a newly-approved agreement that it says will result in its workers being the best-paid fast food workers across the nation, while the SDA says that Grill'd only agreed not to systematically underpay workers after months of union pressure.
Almost a year after orders became available under Labor's landmark same-job, same-pay laws, a review of progress by Workplace Express indicates there have been about 50 decisions, with the MEU, UWU, AMIEU and SDA accounting for more than 70% of them.
Workers at Woodside's Pluto 2 LNG expansion in the Pilbara have overwhelmingly voted down head contractor Bechtel's proposed agreement, while Rio Tinto's Paraburdoo iron ore workers are set to receive a pay rise, announced shortly after unions kicked-off their majority support campaign.
