The MUA is using its industrial muscle to extract up to $1 million from employers for training funds that the Heydon Royal Commission acknowledges are legitimate, the inquiry heard today.
The impact on public sector bargaining of the implied constitutional limitation on Commonwealth interference with state governments is still not well enough understood, according to long-serving CPSU Victoria secretary Karen Batt.
Department of Human Services employees look set to be the first to vote on an offer made under the Coalition's restrictive new public sector bargaining policy, with the CPSU warning the below-inflation pay and reduced conditions on the table are "early-warning signs" of what is ahead.
The ACTU has produced a “bargaining toolkit” to help unions to pursue claims to offset Federal Budget measures, including the $7 GP co-payment, a freeze on child care rebates and the re-indexation of fuel excise.
Workers at Rio Tinto's Cape Lambert port expansion in the Pilbara want to take an extra five weeks a year off, which would reduce their annual pay by about $10,000.
The Fair Work Commission's decision to temporarily halt a planned 48-hour strike at Tidewater Marine took into account that an MUA official was unavailable to give evidence in person to the tribunal.
News Corp Australia has offered a real pay cut for several thousand journalists employed at its Australian newspapers and is also seeking to reduce redundancy entitlements for new hires.
The Coalition has warned public servants there will be "minimal capacity for wage increases" in bargaining to replace 114 enterprise agreements covering 165,000 employees that are due to expire on June 30.
