In an important ruling on the definition of industrial action, the Federal Court has held that the provision of sensitive information to the media by employees is not "protected" under the Fair Work Act and might leave them vulnerable to breach of contract and coercion claims.
The Federal Court has refused to delay the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate's unlawful coercion case against the CFMEU over the 2012 Grocon blockade, finding that the company's contempt charges against the union in the Victorian Supreme Court are not criminal proceedings.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected stevedore DP World's bid for orders at its troubled Fremantle terminal, holding that while "the attributes of a cooperative and productive workforce may have been missing in the past", there was no evidence industrial action was taking place or planned.
The FWBC has included CFMEU construction and general division national secretary Dave Noonan in its fourth prosecution over the $1.2 billion Perth Children's Hospital project.
The Fair Work Commission's decision to temporarily halt a planned 48-hour strike at Tidewater Marine took into account that an MUA official was unavailable to give evidence in person to the tribunal.
The Fair Work Commission has issued an interim order to prevent a planned 48-hour strike by MUA members employed in the offshore oil and gas industry by Tidewater Marine.
A senior IR lawyer has told the HR Nicholls Society the Fair Work Act should be amended to ban protected industrial action that has serious consequences and to remove entirely the rights of high income earners to strike, in a presentation predicting the decline of the MUA's power and influence.
The Federal Court has ordered the CFMEU to stop blocking access to a major Sydney apartment project, pending the full hearing of the developer's claim that the union has breached secondary boycott laws.
The FWC has ordered the TWU to postpone member-endorsed industrial action against Linfox Armaguard because the vagueness of the notices to the company would have required it to respond with "extreme measures" such as organising flying squads to replace workers.
FWBC advisory board chair John Lloyd says he is "surprised" the ACCC does not have enough evidence to launch a prosecution against the CFMEU for taking secondary boycott action against concrete supplier Boral.
