An "ineluctable finding" that the AFAP could not persuade pilot members at a Qantas subsidiary to vote up a new deal supported by the union has helped convince the FWC that it should make an intractable bargaining declaration sought by the airline.
In a significant decision acknowledged as potentially being viewed as "undemocratic", a FWC full bench majority has found it has the power to make a workplace determination on contested bargaining matters after a deal has already been approved by the Commission.
A FWC full bench led by President Adam Hatcher has granted the SDA coverage in a deal capturing six Subway stores after the union successfully challenged approval of an agreement replacing a 17-year-old deal due to be automatically axed in December.
The FWC has played a key role in settling a fiery dispute between the ETU and a battery manufacturer, commending them for taking a "cooperative approach" in accepting the tribunal's recommended changes to a proposed deal.
The FWC has at the second time of asking approved a deal after receiving an undertaking that the employer will not hire anybody under a novel "new entrant" category paying construction workers who become traffic controllers 6% below their award rate at the same time as denying them an industry allowance.
An employer has failed to win approval for a deal that introduces a "new entrant" category paying construction workers who become traffic controllers 6% below their award rate while denying them an industry allowance, with the FWC unmoved by its argument that they need more supervision.
Woolworths Group breached good faith bargaining obligations by circulating a Big W deal struck with the SDA and the AWU before giving RAFFWU a chance to consider it, but the FWC has refused to delay the vote as it would not significantly alter the offer.
The RTBU and ASU will today test whether employers can make deals directly with their employees after the termination of protected action to bypass the subsequent 21 days of negotiations and avoid the ensuing arbitration of an agreement.