The FWC has found a long-serving BHP Coal worker who had "clearly not adjusted to the modern workplace" s-xually-harassed two colleagues, but a rushed investigative process and lack of a proper opportunity to respond rendered his dismissal unfair.
Two new FWC members have invoked Jon Bon Jovi, author Frank Hardy and a former MinterEllison senior partner at a ceremony welcoming them to the tribunal, with one vowing to show respect to "sometimes angry and truculent" parties and the other recalling decades devoted to trying to help people "have a voice and get that voice heard".
In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
A FWC member has refused to be drawn into a dispute between a private rail freight operator and the RTBU over whether a remote locality allowance should be calculated on travel by road or "as the crow flies", concluding that she could not disentangle conflicting versions about its inclusion in an agreement.
A FWC senior member has warned Virgin Australia pilots that if they reject a recommended offer, including what the TWU says is a "historic" pay boost of up to 21% over three years and a sign-on bonus, it will create "further uncertainty and prevent substantive pay increases" for all.
The FWC has granted separate extensions of time to two workers challenging their dismissals, after attaching significant weight to the deaths of close family members.
The FWC has extended time by seven hours for a care worker to lodge her unfair dismissal claim after a loose power cord stymied a paid agent's "imprudent and careless" late night filing efforts.
Wharfies at Qube's bulk and general ports plan to step up protected industrial action with bans and limitations this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane, while warning that strikes are imminent.
