The dispute at Victoria's Country Fire Authority is set to flare in coming weeks as the new CFA board considers whether to sign-off on a controversial enterprise agreement.
Business groups have to cooperate and overhaul their campaign tactics to match groups like GetUp and trade unions, according to Australian Mines and Metals Association chief executive Steve Knott.
The re-elected Turnbull government will pursue changes to workplace laws covering union right of entry, according to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash.
Victoria's United Firefighters Union is calling on members to endorse a contentious in-principle CFA enterprise agreement at a special meeting next week, while employment minister Senator Cash has expressed "concern" that the union is seeking a similar deal in Queensland.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash will lead the push to re-establish the ABCC and to create a specialist regulator of unions, once the Federal parliament resumes on August 30.
The Coalition says it will put five workplace relations bills before the Federal Parliament if it is returned to office, but has flagged that it will not announce a full IR policy ahead of Saturday's election.
The CFMEU has won a document discovery order over the withdrawn prosecution of its national secretary Michael O'Connor, in a judgment that ropes in Employment Minster Michaelia Cash.
The Turnbull Government has pledged that if it is returned on July 2, it will introduce a public interest test for union mergers, which would put the planned tie-up between the CFMEU and the MUA under the microscope.
A second-term Turnbull Government will adopt the "overwhelming majority" of the Heydon Royal Commission's recommendations, including outlawing "corrupting benefits" such as those involved in the AWU-Cleanevent deal and giving courts the power to disqualify repeat-offender union officials, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said today.
