The FWC has ordered a worker's reinstatement and criticised his employer for its "severely flawed" dismissal process after it used a traffic violation as a "golden opportunity" to dismiss him for riling management by engaging in "covert" and "unlawful" industrial action.
The increasing "wage premium" for union members underlines the importance of reforms such as multi-employer bargaining and going even further to prevent the disparity growing wider, according to a leading IR academic, who counterintuitively says the divergence is not a good development for employee organisations.
Union density has dropped significantly from 14.3% to 12.5% over the past two years and almost 10 percentage points a decade for the past 30 years, according to ABS data released today.
A leading IR academic says a Federal Court ruling that takes a restrictive view of union rights to enter workplaces for discussions is "deeply concerning" and demonstrates a need for Parliament to consider new amendments and provide better guidance on interpretation.
The HSU and the ANMF say the Fair Work Act's new secure work and gender equality objectives will bolster and simplify their work value case on behalf of aged care workers, proposing that Federal Government submissions should address the changes.
The ETU has confirmed that it will challenge a Federal Court ruling that "neuters" unions' rights to enter workplaces to organise workers through a restrictive interpretation of provisions allowing access for "discussions" with employees.
Union officials can't use their right to enter premises for discussions with members to gather signatures on petitions or "secure a commitment to a particular course of action in the future", the Federal Court has found, ruling in favour of an employer that blocked access for an organiser who sought workers' backing for a majority support determination.
As ROC staff await their transfer to the FWC, the watchdog has found that a former AEU ACT branch secretary did not improperly use his position, while it is also pursuing the AWU and a CFMMEU mining and energy division Queensland district leader in the Federal Court.
ABC employees' almost three-quarters majority rejection of a deal unilaterally offered by the public broadcaster edges them closer to ending a "business model of overwork, underpay and inequality", according to the MEAA, which together with the CPSU is seeking almost twice the organisation's 9.5% proposal.
The FWC has given the CFMMEU's legal team access to the mining and energy division's membership roll ahead of a hearing into its demerger bid, after the amalgamated union argued it owns the division's records and rejected suggestions its in-house lawyers might misuse the information.
