Employer groups have failed in their bid to delay the March 27 CFMEU-MUA-TCFU amalgamation, but have taken solace from a senior FWC member's observation that their April 9 appeal to an FWC full bench "surmounts the fairly low bar of being arguable".
The Fair Work Commission has reserved its decision on whether to permit an appeal against the approval of the CFMEU's merger with the MUA and the TCFU, employer groups signalling their challenge wouldn't end there if refused.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for this year's minimum wage increase to be no higher than 1.9% or about $13.20 a week, after taking into account the impact on small and regional businesses.
Ai Group says it will challenge an FWC full bench's series of draft model clauses imposing "onerous record-keeping requirements" and other complex conditions that it claims would negate the benefits of annualised wage arrangements.
The Fair Work Commission has today reserved its decision on whether to approve the merger of the CFMEU, MUA and TCFU, with employer groups arguing that proceedings seeking to recover fines and penalties should be taken into account.
Requirements for bargaining representatives from this week to disclose financial benefits stemming from enterprise agreements before workers vote on them will make it easier to track the revenue the deals generate for unions, employers say.
Employers opposing the merger of the CFMEU, MUA and TCFU have warned the FWC that the unions would use their combined might to cripple the resource and construction industries, but they argue that in any case more than 45 pending penalty proceedings should legally disqualify them from amalgamating.
A majority of NSW Catholic diocese have decided to back pay to the start of this year a 2.5% increase contained in an agreement resoundingly rejected by teachers and support staff earlier this month.
