BHP has played down the impact of industrial action at its Queensland coal mines, highlighting that the protected action won support from only about 15% of Operations Services production employees in Queensland.
CFMMEU mining and energy division members have this week kicked off protected action in BHP's Queensland coal mines, sparking early sparring over the company's proposed ban on allowing workers back into their accommodation camp while on strike.
The FWC has refused to suspend engineers' industrial action at a Virgin Australia subsidiary while their employer pursues an intractable bargaining declaration, in an early test of the new Secure Jobs provision.
NTEU members have voted to escalate industrial action, including another state-wide strike, if Victorian universities maintain their refusal to of union demands to replace most casual jobs with permanent positions.
Law firm Ashurst says the looming multi-employer bargaining laws might explain the results of a survey in which 65% of employers say they intend to initiate agreement negotiations in the next six months.
Towage company Svitzer is set to lock out its harbour tugboat workforce, claiming it has been forced into it by continuing disruptive protected action by three maritime unions.
The RTBU says an "unprecedented" NSW Government court case claiming that deactivating Opal card readers at Sydney train stations is not protected action and seeking to recoup lost revenue will force it to revert to disruptive strikes, as the union files its own court action in response.
A major plastics manufacturer has this morning applied for the FWC to halt protected action at a plant in Melbourne, where the AWU says the only current action is the employer's lockout of its members.
The FSU says members at the NAB are preparing to take industrial action if the bank does not improve on its response to claims that include "industry-leading salary increases", increased branch staffing ratios and the abolition of "excessive" working hours.
The ACCC has secured a maximum $750,000 fine against the CFMMEU for breaching competition laws when it pressured a major construction company to boycott a non-union subcontractor.