Qantas has secured new deals with freight pilots and unlicenced aircraft engineers but the threat of turmoil looms, with licensed engineers voting to stop work, ground crew considering it and the FAAA claiming domestic fight attendants are facing ultimatums.
McDonald's told workers they could exchange rest breaks for a soft drink or going to the toilet, according to allegations set out in a new SDA "mega" case against the fast food giant that seeks $250 million in compensation from it and more than 300 franchisees.
A court has fined a CFMMEU official almost $9000, but has attached little weight to "remedial" training he undertook after the ABCC charged him with preventing a concrete pour, saying it should not be necessary for someone in his role.
Ai Group head of national workplace relations policy Stephen Smith is moving on after more than 30 years with the employer group, while NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association general secretary Brett Holmes is retiring after two decades in the branch's top job.
The AWU will trial a centralised "strategic bargaining initiative" with major national employers - like Boral, Hanson and John Holland - because they are "exploiting" the union's state-by-state, site-by-site approach to enterprise negotiations.
The Tasmanian Government's anti-protest legislation, recently introduced to parliament, could be turned against unions, according to the State's peak union body.
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.
