Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross has been dragged into Victoria's firefighters' dispute, after state parliament heard he gave assurances about the proposed agreement for the Country Fire Authority.
Coles has told the Fair Work Commission it will not make the changes required for its 2014-17 supermarkets enterprise agreement to pass the better off overall test.
The Andrews Labor Government has brought in Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner to help broker a peace deal in the standoff between paid and volunteer firefighters, which has spilled over into the federal election campaign.
An FWC full bench has confirmed that the Rail Tram and Bus Union is not entitled to represent the industrial interests of members covered by a new agreement for the maintenance contractor serving Fortescue Metals Group's rail operations in the Pilbara.
The Federal Court has found that the CFMEU unlawfully coerced construction joint venturers when it threatened to take industrial action on a "national scale" and bring about "Armageddon" if they sought to enforce an anti-strike order.
The FWC has rejected bullying allegations against Essential Energy's chief executive officer, but has ordered the company to accept voluntary redundancy applications from two employees who brought the anti-bullying claim because the cost of keeping them on the books when there is no meaningful work is "irrational, absurd and ridiculous".
Lend Lease has secured an order to prevent further industrial action at a strife-torn hospital construction site until the project's scheduled completion in August, but the FWC has stopped short of finding that the CFMEU and CEPU organised workers to walk off the job.
The FWC has refused to approve an enterprise agreement because the employer failed to comply with the mandatory step of providing a bargaining notice to employees within 14 days.
An FWC full bench has ordered Melbourne's fire brigade to consult with the firefighters union over proposed changes to its recruitment procedures but not over quotas to increase female participation.
