The TWU alleges global delivery company FedEx is pushing for its new owner-drivers to be paid on piece rates that undercut existing pay and conditions, despite having recently agreed a new deal pledging to make maximum use of full-time employees.
A judge has in slugging a CFMMEU organiser with a $12,500 personal fine speculated that counsel for the ABCC may have led a "sheltered" existence in not appreciating that the official had aimed a "quite disgusting" homophobic slur at a project's safety adviser.
The FWC has suspended the entry permit of a CFMMEU organiser held to have flagrantly abused his power and urged workers to drive into him while he claimed to be responding to safety concerns, with another official also facing the temporary loss of his permit.
The turmoil at airports might be about to get worse, with TWU set to apply to the FWC for a protected action ballot at a key aviation service business, dnata, which provides services to Qantas and other airlines.
The UWU has closed Hospo Voice, Australia's first "digital-only" union, while maintaining it has provided valuable lessons and tools as organised labour seeks to counter its weakness in attracting and retaining young workers.
Just a month after declaring its intention to delete "Schedule X" unpaid pandemic leave provisions, the recent COVID-19 resurgence has spurred the FWC to extend their operation in a handful of health and care awards, coinciding with the Federal Government reviving the pandemic leave disaster payments.
A proposal by Queensland's Palaszczuk Labor Government to remove gendered language from parental leave entitlements is the beginning of the end of "women" as a protected class at law and risks making mothers invisible, according to submissions on its IR Bill.
The Queensland Government appears to be continuing the rollout of its revised public sector wages policy, reaching an in-principle deal with the State's teachers that will deliver 11% in pay rises over three years, plus "cost of living top-up payments" of up to 3% a year.
The Albanese Government is continuing to add to its IR expertise, with the the appointment to the PM's office of long-serving CFMMEU mining and energy division national legal officer Alex Bukarica as a senior advisor.