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.
In a novel move, unions are seeking to bring forward by 14 weeks the end of the strike-suspending s425 order won by NSW rail employers, arguing that it has failed to achieve its stated purpose of bridging the differences between parties, who they claim have moved further apart during FWC-supervised talks.
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.
Cabin crew employed by Qantas in-house labour hire company Qantas Domestic are in line for base pay rises of up to $20,000 a year, while on-hire workers employed by Maurice Alexander Management and Altara and placed at the airline will win increases of up to 43%, under a settlement of the FAAA's crucial same-job, same-pay claim.
It would have been "sensible" for a worker to take up the "generous support" offered by his employer, rather than filing an "unwarranted" anti-bullying claim, the FWC has ruled, finding a performance management plan, letter of expectations and a warning amounted to reasonable management action.
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".
The Greens have launched a four-day work week election policy under which it would fund a new national institute to coordinate industry trials, while the FWC today starts hearing an ARA bid to have a compressed-hours four-day work week included in Australia's most broadly used award, along with a host of other changes.
