In a breakthrough for NSW fisheries officers seeking to carry capsicum spray while patrolling for poachers, the State IRC has refused to terminate work bans after the Department of Primary Industries failed to convince it they seriously risk depleting fish stocks.
The head contractor on Queensland's largest infrastructure project has failed to win FWC orders to compel hundreds of subcontractors to cross CFMEU picket lines, with the tribunal finding their no-shows did not amount to unprotected action.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has refused to stay an order compelling the UFU to hand over a trust deed for an income protection scheme that Fire Rescue Victoria claims might expose it to a $7 million annual fringe benefits tax liability.
The FWC has taken the unusual step of allowing an employer's HR manager on behalf of workers to sign off on an agreement not backed by the CFMEU's construction division, after accepting evidence that employees were "reluctant" to put their names to the deal.
The majority privately-owned operator of NSW's high-voltage electricity network and unions have until next Monday to agree on terms for a new agreement before handing matters over to a FWC full bench to resolve any outstanding issues via an intractable bargaining determination.
In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
NSW nurses and midwives have defied a tribunal's anti-strike orders, telling its members the State Government has left them with "no choice but to fight".
Wharfies at Qube's bulk and general ports plan to step up protected industrial action with bans and limitations this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane, while warning that strikes are imminent.
A FWC full bench led by president Adam Hatcher has overturned a two-month suspension of ETU strikes against Transgrid, taking the opportunity to lay out the correct approach to assessing safety commitments when considering whether protected industrial action should be stopped or suspended.
The AFP has failed to convince the FWC that the Australian Federal Police Association's "cursory" approach to providing a list of officers who wanted to continue wearing their "accoutrements and radios" while on strike at airports meant the industrial action was unprotected and should therefore be stopped.
