FWA sets equal pay timetable; WA gets new IR minister as Buswell axed; FWA starts winding down old awards; Junior rates for trolley collectors and; McDonald's considers appeal
Fair Work Australia has rejected McDonald's Australia's enterprise agreement, finding it was deficient and failed to meet pre-approval requirements and the no disadvantage test. FWA has also referred to the Fair Work Ombudsman apparent underpayments to employees by the corporation and its franchisees.
Offer of alternative employment not acceptable, says FWA; Pluto crane drivers vote up strike action; and Unions NSW call for additional public holiday.
Sole employee can't "genuinely agree" to deal; Parties urged to do more in modernisation case; New executive officer for VIPA; ILO and Australia forge development partnership; and Workplace Express events page updated
In a critique of the Federal Government's key IR changes, Qantas's executive IR manager says that the good faith bargaining laws will "even up the playing field a little" by forcing the airlines' competitors to bargain collectively, but noted that the new provisions didn't cover the "galling" industrial tactic of damaging a brand. Sue Bussell also maintains that unions' opposition to individual flexibility provisions could affect their long-term relevance, and that FWA got award modernisation right for the industry.
Unions seeking an equal remuneration order for SACS workers today proposed Fair Work Australia adopt a six-month timetable for dealing with the matter, including a request that a full bench sit and conduct "views" around the country.
The resources sector fears an outbreak of entry-related bargaining claims unless Fair Work Australia's full bench quashes a decision allowing unions and employers to circumvent the Fair Work Act's right of entry protocols.
