In one of the last wages and entitlements cases pursued by the FWBC, a building subcontractor that used a labour-hire company to distance itself from it employment obligations has been fined $145,000 and ordered to backpay $150,000 to more than a dozen workers.
The massive $54 billion Gorgon LNG project could gain an assurance of industrial peace for the largest part of its workforce, if workers employed by one of its major contractors accept a new FWC-brokered enterprise deal with fewer working days in each roster cycle.
A "tit-for-tat" culture of poor communication and disrespect between management and the AMWU printing division has been turned around at Orora Fibre Packaging, which has increased its profitability since participating in a "collaborative transformation process" supported by the Fair Work Commission.
The Abbott Government has urged the Fair Work Commission to take a "cautious approach" in this year's minimum wage review due to below-trend GDP growth and a slower than expected recovery in non-mining sectors, while the ACTU says the small business measures in the Budget "dramatically improve the affordability" of pay rises in the award-reliant sector.
The Abbott Government has quietly dropped re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission and creating the Registered Organisations Commission as "major priorities" in its 2015-16 Budget.
A leading silk has told a gathering of major employers that the federal government should adopt the Harper competition review's recommendation to outlaw agreement clauses that limit employers' use of contractors and labour hire employees.
The Victorian Government has revealed that its employee expenses will grow by just over 7% this financial year, ahead of bargaining for major replacement agreements with public sector workers over the next year.
Former NSW ETU leader Bernie Rordan says he was warned that litigation by a fellow union secretary could prevent his appointment to the Fair Work Commission in 2012.
The Department of Employment has crunched the numbers on Australia's 122 modern awards, finding that just half provide for weekend penalty loadings, and 26 rule them out.
