A FWC full bench has rejected an employer's bid to block protected industrial action, confirming that its invalid notice of employee representational rights didn't knock out a union's protected action ballot application.
ETU members employed at the NSW electricity distributor Essential Energy have overwhelmingly endorsed protected work bans and stoppages, which they can begin activating next week.
Power unions say that an application by a NSW Government-owned electricity distributor to terminate its enterprise agreement will led to immediate job losses and pay cuts for hundreds of workers.
Changes to greenfields agreements bargaining, protected action ballots and unpaid parental leave have come into effect today, after the Federal Government's Fair Work Amendment Bill received Royal Assent yesterday.
FWC bench to hear bid to overturn Coles deal approval; Heydon not planning to recall Shorten, but Howes set to appear; Ballot gets the go-ahead despite employer objections; Queensland FIFO report recommends workforce, accommodation laws; High Court confirms role of hindsight in determining injury claims; and Employers, unions decry threats to freedom of association.
Four unions today started protected industrial action at the Melbourne-based plasma and vaccines manufacturer CSL Ltd, on the same day it announced a $US1.4 billion net profit.
The Fair Work Commission has approved a protected action ballot at the Gorgon LNG project's biggest contractor, CB&I, raising the possibility of protected strikes as the already delayed project nears completion.
The massive $54 billion Gorgon LNG project could gain an assurance of industrial peace for the largest part of its workforce, if workers employed by one of its major contractors accept a new FWC-brokered enterprise deal with fewer working days in each roster cycle.
The Australian Shipowners Association has told the Productivity Commission that it is important to understand that the starting point for the bargaining changes it is seeking is the "disproportionate industrial power" wielded by the maritime unions.
