Protected action should be available to workers without the need for a secret ballot, according to the draft IR policy to be put to the ACTU's triennial Congress next week.
The ACTU will today release a jobs policy that calls for an end to public sector wage caps and pay freezes, along with calling time on the use of "illegitimate" fixed-term contracts in government jobs.
The union at the centre of AFP raids conducted on behalf of the Registered Organisations Commission has today warned business leaders that they risk creating a more disruptive and "brutal" IR future for Australia if they continue to employ "hyper-aggressive" strategies aimed at eviscerating organised labour.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus has called for the $590 billion industry superannuation fund sector to reconsider their commercial relationships with "dodgy banks" named at the Hayne Royal Commission into the finance sector.
Victorian unions will push the Andrews Labor Government to make deliberate and dishonest "wage theft" a criminal offence if it wins the state election in November, while they will also be pursuing industrial manslaughter laws.
ACTU leader Sally McManus has today called for IR reforms to enable industry and sectoral bargaining and restore the place of awards to reflect increasing reliance on them.
The AWMU is holding a three-day special national conference to consider a plan to overhaul its governance, structure and operations, as it seeks to revive a membership base that has dropped by more than half over the past 15 years.
The ACTU's policy pitch for the next election will include the right for casual workers to convert to permanent after six months, equal rights for workers in the gig economy and a overhaul of labour hire regulation.
