United Voice and the NUW are a step closer to conducting a member ballot on whether to merge to become Australia's biggest blue-collar union, with the FWC this week issuing a community of interest declaration acknowledging their shared industrial interests.
Real labour costs plummet as profits share soars; Police hit with $85K costs for "naïve" union prosecution; Slow wage growth "no puzzle" for employers: PC.
ASX-listed Spotless Group Limited has been ordered to pay 14 former employees a total of $60,000 for breaching their privacy rights when disclosing their names to a union and paying their membership fees without authorisation.
The CFMMEU has split along divisional lines in Queensland over support for the controversial Adani coal mine, with the union's construction division calling on the State government not to be "conned by corporate carpetbaggers".
An alliance between three unions to cover the agricultural supply chain says it has won agreement from the supermarket giant Coles to "pursue safe and fair conditions" for workers in the fresh produce and meat sectors.
United Voice and the NUW are pushing ahead with merger plans to create Australia's biggest blue-collar union, with almost 156,000 members and an organising model that seeks to tackle low-paid labour hire jobs as well as part-time and casual work.
A former TWU official has lost a bitter dispute with the union over his dismissal in 2014, which he claimed was motivated by his absence from work due to a back injury.
The TWU will today raise the spectre of nationwide airport and road freight strikes as it pursues "sector-wide rates" for 38,000 workers covered by 200 expiring enterprise agreements.
Long-serving leader of Together Queensland, Alex Scott, says the success of his team in union elections gives it a mandate to campaign for a stronger worker voice on climate change, while its goal to raise $5 million over years will help it fight "hostile" government attacks on the public sector.
