Enterprise agreements filed with the FWC in the fortnight to November 18 paid average annualised wage increases of 3.4%, substantially outpacing the 2.8% rises in DEWR's data for June quarter agreements but well below consumer price inflation of about 7%.
A FWC full bench has upheld the rejection of a mining company's deal after shortcomings in the way it was explained denied some workers a chance to cast an informed vote on whether to remain on the Black Coal Award and enjoy "far superior" redundancy benefits and a ban on casual employment.
A FWC full bench has thwarted a multinational company's attempt to end to a 30-year practice of maintenance workers banking two hours' leave a week in lieu of pay rises, finding a member wrongly concluded the arrangement could be changed when its agreement reached its nominal expiry date.
The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act has received Royal Assent, stamping out pay secrecy clauses in new employment contracts, paring back MSD requirements and making it harder for employers to terminate agreements during bargaining, while the ABCC has entered a transition period ahead of its abolition.
Union officials can't use their right to enter premises for discussions with members to gather signatures on petitions or "secure a commitment to a particular course of action in the future", the Federal Court has found, ruling in favour of an employer that blocked access for an organiser who sought workers' backing for a majority support determination.
ABC employees' almost three-quarters majority rejection of a deal unilaterally offered by the public broadcaster edges them closer to ending a "business model of overwork, underpay and inequality", according to the MEAA, which together with the CPSU is seeking almost twice the organisation's 9.5% proposal.
As inflation continues to rise at about 7%, annual wage increases have dropped to just 2.2% in the latest fortnightly batch of "real-time" enterprise deals analysed by the FWC, due to health and welfare agreements paying an average of 2.1% a year.
A FWC commissioner has recused himself from hearing a vax-hesitant university worker's dispute after accepting that views he expressed during unsuccessful conciliation raised doubts about his impartiality.
A HR manager facing potential criminal charges has before a FWC bench refused to answer nearly 100 questions seeking to establish whether he lied on the application form for a contentious agreement that provides for employees to work "voluntary" additional hours without penalty rates.
