The FWC has approved a Melbourne fire brigade agreement after it accepted undertakings that override terms that hindered workers going part-time and allowed their union to block flexible working arrangements, while a challenge is still on foot to an earlier finding that discriminatory deals can still get up.
The ACTU will today promote a blueprint for "deep structural reform" to improve the lot of working women, which includes axing the use of a "male comparator" that has delayed an equal pay case for early childhood teachers since 2013.
On the second of 16 days of FWC hearings into an IEU equal pay claim for early childhood teachers, the union is blaming low wages for a skill shortage in the overwhelmingly female-dominated sector, while the ACTU says the case will test whether the Fair Work Act's equal pay principle can deliver.
Workplace Minister Craig Laundy has been granted permission to intervene in the approval of a new enterprise agreement covering the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade, despite the UFU's criticism of it as an "unprecedented hijack" of the process.
Women will make up at least half of all members elected to the Independent Education Union's federal council branches following a rule change that secretary Chris Watt says is a "symbolic" first step that he hopes will prompt its state branches to look at their own structures.
Western Australia has put closing the gender pay gap and introducing universal domestic violence leave squarely on the table as a result of recommendations contained in an interim report on the government-commissioned review of the state's IR framework.
FSU legally represented in banking royal commission; "No end date" comment spurs on-hire dismissal claim; Company's "secret" to closing gender pay gap; Disputes at decade-long low; and surprising lift in US private sector union membership.
Academics say a national debate about automation and the future of work is failing to address issues of significance to young women, such as their desire for long, meaningful careers in which they are respected and can count on support while balancing work and family commitments.
Academic analysis has revealed that gender equality measures are helping to drive a $24,000 average boost to the pay of top-tier women managers, part-funded by a $4,000 decrease in the pay of their male counterparts, while the overall pay gap among full-time workers is unchanged.
