The number of workers covered by agreements has risen by 36.5% over the past three years, according to the latest triennial FWC general manager's report, while applications to deal with bargaining disputes rose 73.5% over the same period.
The ASU has lodged a single interest multi-employer bargaining authorisation to force eight Melbourne metropolitan councils to negotiate for a deal covering 7000 local government workers, or up to 10,000 if petitions at a further three councils succeed.
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In a significant use of the Fair Work Act's new casual definition, a FWC presidential member has refused to approve a multinational company's offshore deal after finding the vote "mathematically unsafe".
Tensions in the FWC's continuing consideration of regulated labour hire arrangement orders in the mining industry have spilled into view, former federal Labor politician and current tribunal deputy president Terri Butler having to fend off a recusal application citing her supposed "prosecution" of "same job, same pay" policies while in Parliament.
The FWC has thrown out a general protections claim after finding that Sculpture by the Sea "paused" a casual installer's employment but did not dismiss him, while it sought to resolve a number of safety and "cultural" issues that he raised.
In a decision upending unions' understanding of what constitutes the base rate of pay under the pilots award and undoing an underpayments claim, the FWC has held that it does not include general wage-related allowances even where they form part of the minimum payment.
Higher education awards covering academic and other staff have been varied to tighten restrictions around the sector's reliance on fixed-term contracts.
The CFMEU construction division's Queensland branch has suffered another setback in its continuing quest to penetrate major civil projects in the State, with the FWC's rejection of a deal brokered with an earthmoving company after finding the union's own industrial officer failed to properly explain it to workers.
The UFU's Victorian branch is set to be referred to the AFP after a FWC full bench ran out of patience with the union over its refusal to explain how it came to charge a reputed members' income protection scheme $480,000 in "promotion/management costs".
