The ACTU says a High Court decision that makes it harder for unions to take protected industrial action has made Australia's workplace laws "much more oppressive" at a time when strikes are already at record lows.
The High Court has today upheld an appeal by Esso Australia against a finding that industrial action taken by the AWU in 2015 was protected, in a decision that leaves the way open for a substantial damages claim against the union.
The AMWU has welcomed an FWC recommendation to end the long-running maintenance dispute at Griffin Coal and put a proposed agreement to the workforce, calling the package a "common sense middle ground" and a "sensible solution".
CFMEU construction and general division Victorian branch secretary John Setka has foreshadowed an appeal to the High Court if the State's Court of Appeal does not throw out blackmail charges against him and his lieutenant next year.
As teachers in about 350 NSW and ACT Catholic schools strike today over a proposed agreement's lack of guaranteed access to arbitration, employers claim the move is an attempt by the IEU to dissuade them from voting for the deal tomorrow.
The operator of a new highly-automated container terminal in Melbourne has this afternoon won a seven-day interim injunction to stop an apparently "extremely effective" picket that has stopped trucks entering and leaving the Webb Dock site since early this week.
The MUA is facing substantial penalties after the Federal Court today found it orchestrated unlawful industrial action at Hutchison's Port Botany and Brisbane container terminals in 2015, unleashing "every tool available" when confronted with "what it perceived to be an existential threat".
The NSW Court of Appeal has reserved judgment on the PSA's challenge to a record $84,000 fine for contravening court orders and pressing ahead with a Valentine's Day strike in protest at the State Government's plans to privatise disability support work.
