Agreements lodged with the FWC in the fortnight to September 9 delivered annual rises of just 2.4% – the lowest in the short history of the Commission's "real-time" bargained wage data – after education deals effectively paying 1.7% a year to more than 10,000 workers dragged down the average increase.
The Federal Court has again rounded on class action cost estimates provided by Adero Law, this time rejecting submissions that it took 180 hours to prepare pleadings in its pursuit of the Drakes supermarket chain and suggesting that it might have breached the Legal Profession Act.
RAFFWU says that despite initially challenging the approval of an independent bookseller's agreement, it will be celebrating the result for members set to benefit from a "far superior" wage structure and some of the strongest conditions in retail.
The SDA says Aldi will have to pay up to $10 million to about 4000 warehouse workers nationally while also facing potential fines after a court found pre-shift tasks required at a western Sydney distribution centre constitute work.
Private sector agreements approved by the FWC in the June quarter paid average annualised wage increases of 2.9%, lifting growth to the fastest pace in two years, but remaining at less than half of the CPI.
A new report says that wage theft in Australian freight shipping is costing seafarers about $65 million a year and necessitates changes to the Fair Work Act and greater powers and cooperation for regulators.
The FWC's new leading indicator of bargained wage rises - officially launched today - shows that deals lodged in the first half of last month paid an average increase of 3%, up on those in the most recent DEWR data.
A law firm found to have breached the Legal Profession Act when estimating costs says it will challenge a 25% deduction to the sum it claims after settling one of several no win, no fee retail workers' class actions, arguing also that proposed exemptions for litigation funding schemes are unlikely to improve the plight of those who are underpaid.
The ACTU has urged One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts to abandon his private member's bill that seeks to have labour hire workers under certain awards paid the same as those directly-employed and to instead try to achieve his aims through the "same job, same pay" provisions in Labor's promised legislative amendments.
