Protracted negotiations over oil and gas agreements in the Bass Strait have moved a step closer to arbitration following the Victorian Government's application to terminate bargaining in the face of looming strike action.
A Senate inquiry has urged Public Service Minister Michaelia Cash to intervene in the federal public sector bargaining dispute and soften the "intransigent" Coalition's "brutally hard-line" bargaining policy by relaxing the 2% wages cap and removing the prohibition on backpay, but Government senators have flatly rejected the recommendations.
The NSW Teachers Federation says it is aiming for a quick turnaround in negotiations for a new public school teachers' award and hopes to have a new deal in place by the start of next year, but it is also flagging a potential fight over the state's public sector wages policy.
Former Public Service Commissioner Andrew Podger has told a Senate inquiry that getting rid of bargaining altogether in the federal public sector would improve productivity.
Workers at strategic navy shipbuilder ASC Pty Ltd have endorsed taking legally-protected industrial action in coming weeks, with the aim of winning exemption from the Turnbull Government's broader bargaining policy.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will put a new offer to its employees in the wake of the Fair Work Commission's decision to terminate industrial action at airports across the country and move towards arbitration of a new agreement.
An FWC presidential member has found that despite some "prevailing contemporary opinion to the contrary" it is "illogical" to review employees' rosters or individual circumstances when assessing whether an agreement passes the BOOT.
The FWC terminated protected action at airports because suspension would have provided a "non-permanent conclusion" to the long-running bargaining dispute between the CPSU and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
The AMIEU is urging more than 2000 Coles meatworkers to vote in favour of bargaining for a dedicated national agreement for the retailer's meat department, warning that if they fail to strike a deal they are "open to further attack by the SDA" and will be unable to achieve reasonable pay rises.
An FWC full bench has upheld a decision to refuse the CFMEU a protected action ballot at AGL Loy Yang but says a fresh application would probably succeed, as the employer forges ahead with moves to terminate the current agreement.
