The ballots of MUA and TCFU members to determine whether they support amalgamation with the CFMEU closed today with a high turnout for an internal union vote.
The Queensland Council of Unions has set out to defend new workplace laws passed by the Palaszczuk Government since it won power in 2015 by campaigning in 17 seats crucial to Saturday's state election.
Woolworths has committed to working with the NUW to ensure that it complies with minimum labour and human rights standards in its fresh food supply chain, while it has also struck a new enterprise agreement for its Victorian warehouses that increases pay by 4% a year.
A specialist anaesthetist is pursuing a public health service for reinstatement and damages, claiming her summary dismissal breached adverse action provisions, the enterprise agreement and her employment contract, costing her $40,000 a month in lost remuneration.
The FWC has found a Coles Supermarkets baker who texted explicit images to a manager who responded "great d--k pic" did not sexually harass him as he appeared to initially take them as "a joke", but the tribunal has upheld his dismissal as his behaviour breached the retailer's code of conduct.
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.
In an indication of the harder line the FWC is taking on allowing lawyers to appear, it has rejected a bid for representation by a large well-resourced employer with thousands of employees that claimed its in-house IR and HR personnel lacked sufficient advocacy experience to defend an unfair dismissal case.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a senior ETU delegate who objected to his employer's introduction of GPS tracking, finding he deliberately wrapped his device in a Twisties bag to conceal his whereabouts and falsified service records when absent from work.
