The FWC has today ruled out a contentious rule change sought by a pilots union because it failed to abide by requirements to secure support from a two-thirds majority of its governing body.
Women will make up at least half of all members elected to the Independent Education Union's federal council branches following a rule change that secretary Chris Watt says is a "symbolic" first step that he hopes will prompt its state branches to look at their own structures.
The fate of a hotly-contested Australian Federation of Air Pilots membership rule change bid is up in the air as the FWC considers whether a sufficient majority of the union's council members voted for it, while the ACTU has withdrawn its own objections after the tribunal questioned its standing.
The Federal Court is conducting an inquiry into an Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation election that commenced before comprehensive rule changes could be finalised, leaving the union to contact about 80 newly elected councillors to tell them the result is invalid.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus is supporting a plan to overhaul the governance structure of the peak union body by making the presidency an honorary position, or one with a more narrowly-defined role.
Two years after a forecasts of a membership wipeout fuelled soon-abandoned merger discussions with United Voice, the AMWU has approved a major overhaul of its structure and governance to take effect from July 1 next year.
The AWMU is holding a three-day special national conference to consider a plan to overhaul its governance, structure and operations, as it seeks to revive a membership base that has dropped by more than half over the past 15 years.
The FWC has approved a rule change for a Virgin pilots union that will enable it to expand its associate membership category to encompass pilots from other airlines and grant them access to its insurance scheme for loss of their flying licence.
The FWC has given the ACTU until the end of the month to explain how it has standing to object to a non-affiliated pilots union's rule change bid that Qantas has labelled "so broad" it could extend to "any person anywhere", with objectors also set to weigh in on the validity of the clause's endorsement.
Employer groups have failed in their bid to delay the March 27 CFMEU-MUA-TCFU amalgamation, but have taken solace from a senior FWC member's observation that their April 9 appeal to an FWC full bench "surmounts the fairly low bar of being arguable".