An FWC full bench has emphasised that the tribunal should take a "global" rather than "line by line" approach when applying the better off overall test to agreements, while in another ruling the Commission has approved a deal with employer undertakings, despite union misgivings that it was originally voted up by only three employees who have since left the company.
The Senate committee inquiring into the federal government's bargaining bill has handed down a report free of any recommendations to improve it, with Coalition senators wanting it passed without amendment and Labor and the Greens calling for its rejection.
There are "promising" early results from a 12-month pilot program that is seeking to speed-up the appeals process in the FWC and reduce parties' costs, according to the tribunal's president, Justice Iain Ross.
The former Labor Government's changes to the modern award objective have made it impossible for 24/7 industries such as hospitality to successfully prosecute cases to abolish penalty rates and should be scrapped, according to the peak body for restaurant employers.
Unions are seeking authorisation for industrial action at the massive Gorgon gas project, after workers employed by its largest contractor resoundingly voted down an agreement that would have provided an extra day off in each 35-day roster cycle.
The head of Networks NSW, which owns the power "poles and wires" entities that are to be privatised if the Coalition wins Saturday's NSW election, is pushing for FWC approval of agreements to be conditional on them undergoing an objective "productivity test" and is backing calls for the creation of a separate FWC appeals jurisdiction.
The chief executive of the $84 billion AustralianSuper fund has urged unions to ensure that they make industry super funds the default option in enterprise agreements.
The ANZ bank has offered annual pay rises of between 3.75% to 5.25% over two years if employees accept a new enterprise agreement, while threatening to pay a single annual increase of between 3% to 4.5% if it is rejected.
Mermaid Marine has won more flexibility in rostering for stevedores working at its Dampier supply base under a new enterprise agreement endorsed by MUA members.
Tomorrow's planned four-hour stoppage by marine engineers at Port Hedland tug operator Teekay Shipping is off, after the company and AIMPE struck a deal that incorporates the landmark pay-for-leave buy-out accepted by the other two maritime unions, plus a compromise on earlier key stumbling blocks.
