The FWC has granted a supported bargaining authorisation that boosts an IEU push for a 25% pay rise for teachers in more than 100 NSW preschools, while employers told the tribunal the Fair Work Act changes have finally put them in a position to negotiate.
The FWC has refused an application from a BHP Hunter Valley coal mine to transfer an employee - and future workers with similar circumstances - from the company's WA iron ore operations.
Two new FWC members have invoked Jon Bon Jovi, author Frank Hardy and a former MinterEllison senior partner at a ceremony welcoming them to the tribunal, with one vowing to show respect to "sometimes angry and truculent" parties and the other recalling decades devoted to trying to help people "have a voice and get that voice heard".
The FWC has finally brought the curtain down on a legal secretary's "spiteful" six-year campaign against her sacking, finding her "incredibly patient" employer had a valid reason to dismiss her after she blocked it from assessing her reasons for a lengthy absence.
Mining companies challenging a FWC decision "forcing" them into multi-employer bargaining are accusing the Albanese Government of doing an about-face on assurances they would not be affected by the new legislation.
In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
A FWC member has refused to be drawn into a dispute between a private rail freight operator and the RTBU over whether a remote locality allowance should be calculated on travel by road or "as the crow flies", concluding that she could not disentangle conflicting versions about its inclusion in an agreement.
Ahead of next month's State election, Queensland's Miles Government has appointed to the IRC a barrister who serves on rugby league and baseball judiciaries.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has appointed the tribunal's sole Newcastle-based member to oversee the Commission's exercise of its new powers under the Net Zero Economy Authority Act to aid a "just transition" for displaced workers in sectors such as mining and energy.
