An FWC full bench has accepted that ordering a "cooling off" period unfairly rewarded an employer for its intransigence in refusing to bargain during a protected strike.
Esso Australia is seeking to prevent the Fair Work Commission from making a workplace determination for its Bass Strait oil and gas operations, arguing its legal basis has been "fatally undermined" by a recent High Court ruling.
Glencore's Oaky North coal mine workers have voted to accept the same in-principle agreement that they rejected in January, with the CFMMEU crediting its successful FWC bid to pause a bitter seven-month lockout with creating the right environment to break the deadlock.
A review of the 2015 amendments to the Fair Work Act's greenfields agreements provisions has rejected union pleas to axe "last offer" arbitration - despite a failure by employers to utilise it - and has recommended reducing from six months to three the "negotiating period" before the FWC can break deadlocks.
The High Court has today upheld an appeal by Esso Australia against a finding that industrial action taken by the AWU in 2015 was protected, in a decision that leaves the way open for a substantial damages claim against the union.
The AMWU has welcomed an FWC recommendation to end the long-running maintenance dispute at Griffin Coal and put a proposed agreement to the workforce, calling the package a "common sense middle ground" and a "sensible solution".
As teachers in about 350 NSW and ACT Catholic schools strike today over a proposed agreement's lack of guaranteed access to arbitration, employers claim the move is an attempt by the IEU to dissuade them from voting for the deal tomorrow.
The giant miner Glencore has extended the lockout of about 190 workers at its Oaky North coal mine in Queensland for another two weeks, to 132 days. Meanwhile, the union that represents the mineworkers has a new general secretary.
The FWC has found it has no basis to suspend industrial action by CEPU members at the Australian Submarine Corporation, because a campaign of 162 half-hour stopworks is yet to begin, but has warned it would be likely to issue orders to provide for an agreement ballot in a strike-free environment if circumstances change.
