The ACTU has ramped up the prosecution of its case that profits rather than wages are fuelling inflation, securing former ACCC chair Alan Fels to conduct a public inquiry into "price gouging" and unfair pricing practices.
After years of battles with the organisations regulator over inaccurate membership records, the AWU has increased its supporter base by 1.5% in the latest reporting period, while the warring CFMMEU has shed 9,000 or 6% of its members in the last two reporting years.
The ACTU is calling on the Albanese Government to make it easier for those "misclassified" as casuals to recover their full entitlements, with its research showing casual workers earn nearly 11% less than permanent employees of the same skill level or occupation and most are in long-term arrangements.
Three-quarters of working women are suffering from painful periods, according to a continuing survey conducted by Maurice Blackburn that it is seeking to open up to a broader audience, as it prepares to use the data to lobby for reproductive leave and flexible work arrangements.
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.
The FWO has hit a new high in the cases it has taken to court, as it continues to target large corporates and adds universities to its priority list, according to the watchdog's annual report.
Private sector agreements approved by the FWC in the June quarter paid average annualised wage increases of 2.9%, lifting growth to the fastest pace in two years, but remaining at less than half of the CPI.
The FWC's new leading indicator of bargained wage rises - officially launched today - shows that deals lodged in the first half of last month paid an average increase of 3%, up on those in the most recent DEWR data.
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.
