The former Labor Government's changes to the modern award objective have made it impossible for 24/7 industries such as hospitality to successfully prosecute cases to abolish penalty rates and should be scrapped, according to the peak body for restaurant employers.
Unions are seeking authorisation for industrial action at the massive Gorgon gas project, after workers employed by its largest contractor resoundingly voted down an agreement that would have provided an extra day off in each 35-day roster cycle.
Employment Minister Eric Abetz's own department is set to join the ranks of federal public servants taking protected industrial action this bargaining round, with an overwhelming majority endorsing the CPSU's ballot proposals.
The massive Gorgon LNG project's largest contractor is putting a revised roster arrangement to workers who last year rejected a proposal that would have reduced their consecutive working days from 26 to 23.
The head of Networks NSW, which owns the power "poles and wires" entities that are to be privatised if the Coalition wins Saturday's NSW election, is pushing for FWC approval of agreements to be conditional on them undergoing an objective "productivity test" and is backing calls for the creation of a separate FWC appeals jurisdiction.
The chief executive of the $84 billion AustralianSuper fund has urged unions to ensure that they make industry super funds the default option in enterprise agreements.
A Federal Court full bench has today ruled that the Fair Work Commission was entitled to approve enterprise agreements covering three private hospitals, even though their agent made and signed them without "actual" authority.
In his second major backdown on Australian Defence Force personnel pay and conditions, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has bumped up from 1.5% to an above-inflation 2% the annual wage increases payable under their three-year agreement.
A Fair Work Commission full bench has today ordered a mining goliath to provide a union with a "genuine proposal" for a new enterprise agreement, after finding it failed to comply with the Fair Work Act's good faith bargaining requirements.
Senior FWC members will head up enterprise bargaining and dispute resolution workshops in a pilot to kick off in Sydney next month, as part of the tribunal's broader strategy to encourage more productive workplaces.
