Woolworths has committed to working with the NUW to ensure that it complies with minimum labour and human rights standards in its fresh food supply chain, while it has also struck a new enterprise agreement for its Victorian warehouses that increases pay by 4% a year.
The TWU has won a 2.25% increase in employer superannuation contributions as part of an in-principle agreement on a new three-year deal at the Toll transport group.
Just a week after RBA Governor Philip Lowe called for workers to push for bigger wage rises, the FWC has approved a deal that secures increases of just 2% a year for his own 1000-strong workforce, but with the prospect, for some, of also winning performance-based bonuses.
AFL players will get an immediate 20% pay rise under a new $1.84 billion collective bargaining agreement that ties income to industry revenue for the first time.
The Australian Federal Police has hit back at claims its officers stand to lose up to 23% of their salary under a proposed agreement which the police union claims will leave all members worse off.
Expanding on its theme that the wages system is "broken", the ACTU will seek to change workplace laws so workers and unions can bargain "where the power is" across industries and franchised employers, rather than being limited to the enterprise level.
Average pay rises in private sector agreements struck in last year's December quarter returned to the recent trend of about 3% a year, according to new Department of Employment data.
The FWC has confirmed it has the power to determine a dispute between labour supplier WorkPac and the CFMEU over pay cuts at a Rio Tinto coal mine, but its intervention is conditional on the union naming the employees involved.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe today used a House committee public hearing to restate his view that Australia's recent record of negligable wage growth may be nearing an end, suggesting that an improving local outlook amid a rebounding global economy would see increased pressure on employers to share the proceeds.
The number of enterprise agreements terminated by the FWC has accelerated dramatically in recent years, particularly for relatively small union-negotiated deals in the construction and manufacturing sectors, according to the Department of Employment.
