The SDA says Federal Labor's multi-employer agreement stream has opened the way for Chemist Warehouse's highly-feminised, award-dependent workforce to bargain collectively when they previously had "no realistic path".
McDonald's has told a FWC full bench on the first day of a hearing tackling the SDA's test bid for a multi-employer supported bargaining authorisation covering 18 SA franchisees that it strongly opposes the application and considers it unnecessary.
The FWC has granted a supported bargaining authorisation that boosts an IEU push for a 25% pay rise for teachers in more than 100 NSW preschools, while employers told the tribunal the Fair Work Act changes have finally put them in a position to negotiate.
If the FWC grants the SDA a first-of-its-kind supported bargaining authorisation targeting SA's McDonald's franchisees, the union says it will seek to lift pay, boost job security and get rid of an "outrageous" rostering practice.
The IEU is planning to apply for a supported bargaining authorisation covering up to 40 NSW community-based preschools by the end of the month, pushing for increases of at least 25% for teachers who are paid far less than they would receive if they worked in a school.
The Fair Work Act's continuing focus on single-enterprise bargaining, along with weak underpinning awards and supported bargaining's restriction to multi-employer rather than sector-wide bargaining, will limit the new stream's capacity to achieve "decent wages" for low-paid female employees, according to leading IR academics.
A major employer alliance supporting a union bid for supported multi-bargaining in the early childhood education and care sector says the FWC needs to bring the Albanese Government to the table as insufficient funding is hampering their ability to boost pay.
In the first test of new supported bargaining laws, the FWC will hear in mid-August the landmark application to authorise multi-employer negotiations involving 65 employers and 12,000 workers in the early childhood education and care sector.
As the FWC prepares for the Secure Jobs's bargaining and industrial action components to start on June 6, it has signalled that it plans to devote a substantial amount of members' time to the new mandatory pre-industrial-action conferences to try to facilitate agreements and will expect a similar commitment from parties.
The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act has received Royal Assent, stamping out pay secrecy clauses in new employment contracts, paring back MSD requirements and making it harder for employers to terminate agreements during bargaining, while the ABCC has entered a transition period ahead of its abolition.
