The Fair Work Commission has found that the United Firefighters Union is not bargaining in good faith in pressing Victoria's Country Fire Authority to agree to minimum staffing levels in enterprise bargaining negotiations, and has ordered the union to drop the claims.
The MUA has given notice of four consecutive 24-hour stoppages at the marine contractor Farstad from November 15, in the latest development in enterprise bargaining involving vessel operators servicing the offshore oil and gas sector.
The Fair Work Commission has granted a company's request for good faith bargaining orders to provide for separate negotiations over four agreements in one case, but has knocked back a union's application for orders in another after finding that the employer was entitled to take a "hard" position in discussions.
The Fair Work Commission says that excluding supervisor-level employees from enterprise agreements is normal practice, and that those seeking to be included via scope orders need to present strong evidence to win the day.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered the MUA not to push for "Australians first" job clauses that might breach anti-discrimination laws during the hotly-contested enterprise bargaining round in the offshore oil and gas services sector.
The MUA pushed ahead with a 24-hour strike at Tidewater Marine today, ahead of the broader dispute over bargaining in the offshore oil and gas service sector heading back to the Fair Work Commission.
The Senate's Education and Employment Legislation Committee has recommended today that the upper house pass the government's Fair Work Amendment Bill unamended, with the ALP and the Greens tabling separate reports opposing the legislation.
The Fair Work Commission's decision to temporarily halt a planned 48-hour strike at Tidewater Marine took into account that an MUA official was unavailable to give evidence in person to the tribunal.
The Fair Work Commission has issued an interim order to prevent a planned 48-hour strike by MUA members employed in the offshore oil and gas industry by Tidewater Marine.
The Federal Court has set aside enterprise agreements for three private hospitals, finding the group's corporate manager had no authority to make them.
