An "excellent" expert's assessment that tugboat masters' planned protected action could cost the economy hundreds of millions has proved instrumental in convincing the FWC to suspend nationwide strikes.
The National Farmers' Federation has called on the Federal Government to refer maritime industrial disputes straight to the FWC for arbitration, as one of several moves to improve international freight supply chains.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to intervene if the MUA resumes protected strikes at Patrick stevedores this month, while taking longer-term action on restrictive content imposed by the union in enterprise agreements.
In a significant ruling reinforcing the need for strict adherence to strike laws, the CFMMEU has failed to overturn a finding that an employer rightly deducted 12 hours' pay from mineworkers who took a total of about 30 minutes across three days to secure their machinery in preparation for protected action.
The ABCC has been handed a giant sledgehammer in its running battle with the CFMMEU after a Federal Court judge found that he did not need the construction industry watchdog to request personal payment orders before making union members pay fines out of their own pockets.
Aldi has again failed to rein-in the TWU over its long-running "safe rates" campaign, with a full Federal Court confirming that the union is not constrained by consumer law prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct.
In a significant judgment closely examining the limits of "industrial activity", a full Federal Court led by Chief Justice James Allsop has overturned penalties imposed on two CFMMEU officials for leading a walk-out from a building site that had no separate toilet for a female worker.
The ABCC has enjoyed another mixed result in its campaign to bring the CFMMEU to heel, a Federal Court judge agreeing to impose personal payment orders against three officials involved in picketing a building site but rejecting argument that the union's past record should necessarily attract maximum penalties.
A Federal Court judge has for the second time rejected FWO arguments that the CFMMEU's maritime division should not benefit from the Fair Work Act's single course of conduct mechanism in determining penalties for an unlawful strike.
A Federal Court judge has again pointed his finger at Victorian CFMMEU secretary John Setka's leadership in issuing a personal payment order against one of his long-serving officials for blockading a worksite to pressure a builder into negotiating an agreement with the union.
