In a significant judgment on the statutory nature of a "proposed enterprise agreement", a Federal Court has rejected arguments that rail unions lost protection of their industrial action once the bargaining focus changed from a single to a multi-employer deal.
A FWC full bench has clarified what constitutes "significant" damage to the national economy and when an employer can be considered an "important part" of it, in reasons for overturning the suspension of protected action by sugar industry workers.
In a significant decision acknowledged as potentially being viewed as "undemocratic", a FWC full bench majority has found it has the power to make a workplace determination on contested bargaining matters after a deal has already been approved by the Commission.
In a significant ruling on the wording of strike ballots, a FWC full bench has found that the Commission should not dictate which questions can be posed or how they are framed.
RAFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan says the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill is an "Orwellian attack" worse than Work Choices that will reduce workers' ability to strike, tear the BOOT apart and diminish the voice of employees and employers while doing nothing for casuals or wages.
The FWC has rejected an employer's bid to stop planned strikes at a $1 billion lithium plant, after finding that its interpretation of notification requirements would effectively shave a day off the protected period.
The Productivity Commission says the workplace tribunal should have a "fast-track process" for early involvement in industrial disputes on the docks, while waterfront employers should have more options for taking their own protected action beyond lockouts.
The Perrottet Government in NSW says it is moving to massively increase fines for unlawful industrial action to send a "message" ahead of a teachers' strike, while a commissioner who blocked part of a PSA strike says it refused to meaningfully engage with the union on wages.
A finding that the FWC cannot keep dealing with disputes brought under old agreements once a new deal comes into effect has produced "arbitrary, anomalous and nonsensical outcomes" and is wrong, a full bench has held, calling for an amendment to the Fair Work Act to reflect the new precedent.
The FWC has for the second time this month stressed that unions cannot leave any room for ambiguity when notifying employers of protected industrial action, pulling the pin on a strike by helicopter maintenance engineers working in the north-west.
