The CFMMEU is preparing to grill employer bodies over their push for temporary COVID-19 variations to construction awards, which is set to be heard by an FWC full bench next week.
Federal Treasury has told the FWC's minimum wage panel to be cautious in accepting predictions of a "very strong snapback" in the unemployment rate, as the economy re-opens after the coronavirus pandemic.
The FWC will today hold its final hearing in this year's minimum wage review, in which employers and unions are divided over whether the domestic economy has started to recover from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
The MBAV this year applied to revoke a 30-year-old exemption that enabled it to conduct its own elections, after an inquiry by the ROC into the conduct of the employer body's 2018 ballot.
Unions objecting to a joint employer group bid for coronavirus-driven variations to building awards that would allow hours to be cut to zero have today also questioned its validity, given two of the peak bodies are not registered organisations.
The FWC will approve consent coronavirus-driven changes to the vehicle manufacturing, repair services and retail award if it doesn't receive any objections by late this afternoon, while it has endorsed a variation that delays half of a pay rise for six months at Ford Australia.
As some employers suggest that FWC's minimum wage panel might need to freeze or cut minimum pay due to the coronavirus crisis, the UK has lifted its wage floor to 60% of the median.
Employers intend to mount a "material" case in opposition to the union bid for health and community workers to receive paid leave if they are required to self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Registered Organisation Commission's challenge to the Federal Court's quashing of its investigation into the AWU's past donations is set to be heard next month, while the regulator has completed its investigation of an employer organisation and is awaiting advice on whether it will deregister before taking further action.
The ACTU has resisted employer arguments to delay any rise in minimum pay, while it has accepted that the annual wage review timetable should be amended to enable the expert panel to consider national accounts data that is likely to identify the early economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
