After a hard-fought battle, a mining union has today won an authorisation to negotiate a multi-employer agreement with three underground black coal mines operated by major resource companies Peabody, Ulan and Whitehaven, but Delta has escaped its clutches.
The scheme of administration for the CFMEU's construction division and branches, in place from today, immediately dismisses most officeholders, but allows some national, WA branch and ACT branch officials to keep their jobs during Mark Irving KC's supervision of the union.
A leading IR law academic says he would not be surprised if the Albanese Government proposes a Fair Work court to operate alongside the FWC if it is returned at the next federal election, while SA Employment Tribunal President Stephen Dolphin recommends looking to the "exceptional" model in his State.
The FWC has upheld the summary dismissal of a forklift driver, after he left work to avoid a drug test, claiming that he had an "accident" in his trousers.
The ETU's refusal to acknowledge that power network operator Transgrid alone dictates when emergency work is required provided the FWC sufficient reason to extend orders preventing certain protected industrial action for a further two months, according to a senior member.
A Coles worker sacked for "interacting" with shoplifters in defiance of company policy has had her one-minute-late adverse action application binned, after the FWC rejected her bid to "pin" responsibility on the SDA, while at the same time affirming that the deadline is not a "mere technicality".
The FWC has continued to update its information about employment law changes due to take effect next week, publishing new details about the Closing Loopholes No 2 Act impact on casuals, unfair contracts and gig workers.
The administrator-designate of the CFMEU's construction division and branches, Mark Irving KC, has given a written commitment to act against crime and corruption by employers as well as unions and their officials.
A welcome ceremony for new FWC Vice President Mark Gibian has heard he is a polite but "devastating" cross-examiner renowned for his calm court manner, while an employer representative said the Albanese Government has removed from the Bar one of the "sharpest tools unions have in their toolbox".
