The turmoil at airports might be about to get worse, with TWU set to apply to the FWC for a protected action ballot at a key aviation service business, dnata, which provides services to Qantas and other airlines.
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.
Just a month after declaring its intention to delete "Schedule X" unpaid pandemic leave provisions, the recent COVID-19 resurgence has spurred the FWC to extend their operation in a handful of health and care awards, coinciding with the Federal Government reviving the pandemic leave disaster payments.
A proposal by Queensland's Palaszczuk Labor Government to remove gendered language from parental leave entitlements is the beginning of the end of "women" as a protected class at law and risks making mothers invisible, according to submissions on its IR Bill.
The Queensland Government appears to be continuing the rollout of its revised public sector wages policy, reaching an in-principle deal with the State's teachers that will deliver 11% in pay rises over three years, plus "cost of living top-up payments" of up to 3% a year.
The Albanese Government is continuing to add to its IR expertise, with the the appointment to the PM's office of long-serving CFMMEU mining and energy division national legal officer Alex Bukarica as a senior advisor.
The bid by Qantas to overturn a Federal Court ruling that it took unlawful adverse action against its former ground crew employees argues that some of the Fair Work Act's protected workplace rights are "time bound".
In a decision that shines a light on road service provider NRMA's business model, the FWC has found a contractor mechanic's failure to meet KPIs – when he spent too much time with customers and failed to sell enough batteries – did not provide a fair basis for sacking him.
A tribunal has ordered Queensland Health to pay the ETU a $10,400 penalty for failing to bid for work currently outsourced to contractors, as required by its enterprise agreement with the union.
The ACTU has thrown its support behind workers employed by a Melbourne carpet maker that is seeking to terminate its enterprise agreement, saying it needs urgent attention, while a local Labor MP says IR Minister Tony Burke is "looking very seriously" at the broader issue.
