The MEU says its members at a Peabody underground coal mine near Wollongong have been "blindsided" by the the company's week-long lockout of 160 mineworkers, saying it is a disproportionate response to limited protected action.
The UWU has defeated a federal government attempt to end strikes by Serco employees running immigration detention centres, after the FWC found it not unusual for detainees to climb on roofs, set off fire alarms or endure brief lockdowns, as occurred during the industrial action.
The ETU has lodged an urgent Federal Court bid to challenge FWC orders that suspended industrial action across Sydney's trains network until July, arguing a full bench wrongly treated rail unions as an "undifferentiated whole" and unreasonably advantaged the employers.
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.
In a decision tackling an overlooked need to issue protected action ballot orders reflecting a shift to multi-employer bargaining at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains, the FWC has chastised the employers for seeking an additional technical step serving "no purpose" other than to bring about a delay.
Rail unions are urgently seeking renewed authorisation for festive season protected action at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains, after the Federal Court last night acceded to the employers' bid to temporarily declare unlawful bans to take effect this morning.
Ahead of a major threatened rail shutdown affecting Sydney and surrounding areas from Friday, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen has pledged not to repeat the former Coalition State Government's strategy of dragging the dispute before the FWC.
The FWC has taken the unusual step of allowing an employer's HR manager on behalf of workers to sign off on an agreement not backed by the CFMEU's construction division, after accepting evidence that employees were "reluctant" to put their names to the deal.
In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
Wharfies at Qube's bulk and general ports plan to step up protected industrial action with bans and limitations this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane, while warning that strikes are imminent.
