Commissioner Stuart Wood KC, addressing today's initial hearing for his inquiry into the CFMEU in Queensland, expressed his gratitude for the "unsolicited written commitment" from union administrator Mark Irving KC to cooperate with the probe.
The ETU's WA branch is pushing to bargain for a separate agreement for continuing electrical, instrumentation or plumbing workers at the massive Pluto 2 LNG expansion, to uncouple from employees who will be demobilised as the construction phase ends, and is urging workers to vote down a pay offer that "does not pass the pub test".
The inquiry into the CFMEU construction division's Queensland branch is set to begin its public proceedings next week in Brisbane with an opening statement from Commissioner Stuart Wood KC and an address from senior counsel assisting, Liam Kelly KC.
A MEU prompt has spurred a host employer subject to same-job, same-pay orders to fulfil its statutory obligation to tell the FWC about a recently-engaged labour-supplier.
A pilots' union will weigh into a tussle over the Flying Kangaroo's alleged ditching of an A380 captain's exclusive parking arrangements near Sydney Airport, after the FWC rejected the airline's contention it cannot intervene as a "third party" in a member's agreement dispute.
The FWC has refused a bid for a three-month suspension of industrial action at a major aluminium smelter, finding that it would hinder bargaining, and that the AWU had already made significant concessions to ensure that the plant would remain operational.
The FSU is threatening to lodge a dispute with the FWC to challenge the ANZ's surprise announcement that it intends to axe of thousands of workers, giving the bank by the close of business to clarify its response to questions over alleged consultation failures.
NSW IR Minister Sophie Cotsis says a Bill providing for the CFMEU State branch's mining and energy division and its manufacturing division to disamalgamate will guard against threats or "adverse conduct", while avoiding overlapping eligibility rules for at least a decade.
The FWC has found a former CFMEU construction division official "removed" by administrator Mark Irving KC is fit to hold office in a union and act as a bargaining representative, five months after it cleared him to take up a part-time role with the ETU.
The union representing coal mining staff and supervisors has welcomed today's full Federal Court endorsement of the FWC's authorisation of multi-employer bargaining with three coal-mining giants, even though it has now chosen to pursue single enterprise deals.
