Just a week after RBA Governor Philip Lowe called for workers to push for bigger wage rises, the FWC has approved a deal that secures increases of just 2% a year for his own 1000-strong workforce, but with the prospect, for some, of also winning performance-based bonuses.
The National Farmers' Federation will argue the FWO has misconstrued the horticulture award's piecework provisions in a Federal Court case it believes has the potential to remove much of the incentive to work across the entire sector.
Two unions are poised to lodge legal challenges to penalty rate cuts as early as tomorrow after the Fair Work Commission issued determinations on transitional arrangements in the retail and hospitality sectors.
Loy Yang power station and mine workers have conceded the possibility of forced redundancies and increased use of contractors in exchange for annual 5% pay rises in voting up a new enterprise agreement with operators AGL Energy.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has declined to support Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe's call for workers to push for wage rises, arguing that improved company profits are a surer way to put more money in more pockets.
Senator Nick Xenophon has won support for a Senate inquiry that will investigate enterprise agreements by big corporations that trade off penalty rates.
Maverick Federal Nationals MP George Christensen has this morning made good on his vow to introduce a private members' bill to stop Sunday penalty rates from being cut in 11 days' time.
The CFMEU will stage a national day of protest next week as tensions rise in the construction industry over the coming deadline for having code-compliant agreements to avoid being barred from winning Commonwealth-funded contracts.
The Australian Federal Police has hit back at claims its officers stand to lose up to 23% of their salary under a proposed agreement which the police union claims will leave all members worse off.
The WA Industrial Relations Commission has increased the state minimum wage by 2.3%, noting that the economy is still in a "trough" after the end of the mining and construction boom in recent years.
