Employment Minister Michaelia Cash is trying to drum up public support from business and employer groups for the Fair Work Commission's landmark decision to cut Sunday penalty rates for some retail and hospitality workers.
The CFMEU will stage a national protest over the re-establishment of the ABCC next week as part of its broader campaign against the Turnbull Government's workplace reform agenda.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reiterated that Labor will reverse the FWC's "bad" decision to reduce weekend penalty rates if Labor takes power at the next federal election, while the ACTU's next secretary is calling for unions to join her in stopping the penalties changes "dead in their tracks".
It's the labour movement equivalent of the corporate skunkworks: a new union within the Australian Workers Union that doesn't look anything like its distinctly un-hip parent.
As well as slashing the pay of low-income workers by up to $3,400 a year, cutting Sunday penalty rates for award-reliant employees in the retail, hospitality and fast food industries will increase casualisation and the gender pay gap and affect enterprise bargaining, says a new report.
The board of QBE Insurance Group has cut the remuneration of its chief executive, John Neal, by $550,000 because of his tardiness in disclosing that he was in a personal relationship with his personal assistant.
The AWU kicks off its biennial conference today, with new national secretary Daniel Walton seeking to revive falling membership and protect jobs in key industry segments rather than pursue mergers with other unions. Meanwhile, the FWC has been questioning the "integrity" of the union’s reported membership numbers for the five years to 2014.
