ACTU leader Sally McManus has today called for IR reforms to enable industry and sectoral bargaining and restore the place of awards to reflect increasing reliance on them.
The AWMU is holding a three-day special national conference to consider a plan to overhaul its governance, structure and operations, as it seeks to revive a membership base that has dropped by more than half over the past 15 years.
The ACTU's policy pitch for the next election will include the right for casual workers to convert to permanent after six months, equal rights for workers in the gig economy and a overhaul of labour hire regulation.
The Fair Work Commission has approved the merger of the CFMEU with the MUA and TCFU after rejecting employer arguments it should take account of the "significant" number of civil pecuniary proceedings penalty cases against them.
The ACTU is seeking to hire a fundraising and bequests program coordinator as part of a strategy to diversify its funding base, which largely relies on fees and levies paid by affiliated unions.
The Fair Work Commission has today reserved its decision on whether to approve the merger of the CFMEU, MUA and TCFU, with employer groups arguing that proceedings seeking to recover fines and penalties should be taken into account.
Unilever has applied to terminate an enterprise agreement for a Streets ice cream plant in Sydney, where bargaining is deadlocked despite more than a year of interest-based bargaining before the Fair Work Commission.
The ACTU has sought to broker discussions with two smaller maritime unions that are objecting to the planned merger of the CFMEU with the MUA and TCFU.
Two employer groups have flagged that they will argue that the CFMEU's merger with two other unions cannot proceed because the former's construction division has a large amount of outstanding legal action against it.
