The ACTU's new economic manifesto reveals the movement as the latest convert to the anti-globalisation sentiment sweeping the world, with strengthened calls for a focus on 'buy Australian' policies.
Loy Yang power station and mine workers have conceded the possibility of forced redundancies and increased use of contractors in exchange for annual 5% pay rises in voting up a new enterprise agreement with operators AGL Energy.
Senator Nick Xenophon has won support for a Senate inquiry that will investigate enterprise agreements by big corporations that trade off penalty rates.
The CFMEU will stage a national day of protest next week as tensions rise in the construction industry over the coming deadline for having code-compliant agreements to avoid being barred from winning Commonwealth-funded contracts.
The Australian Federal Police has hit back at claims its officers stand to lose up to 23% of their salary under a proposed agreement which the police union claims will leave all members worse off.
Shadow IR Minister Brendan O'Connor has questioned whether industry awards are operating as a "decent safety net" any more, signalling that Labor is looking at ways to change the Fair Work Act to ensure negotiations over workers' wages and conditions are conducted "on a level playing field".
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.
The FWC has knocked out United Voice's bid to review copies of documents supporting an enterprise agreement application it suspected of "undercutting" employees' conditions and not being genuinely agreed, observing the union was trying to do the Commission's job.
Leading employment law practitioners have predicted it is only a matter of time before Australia sees a test case similar to UK's recent landmark Uber decision which found drivers were employees, not contractors.
