The approval of new deals covering almost 22,000 ATO and PM&C employees heralds significant progress in the CPSU's longest-ever bargaining dispute, but the union says it won't be resolved until the Department of Human Services "gets the message on retaining rights and conditions".
The Department of Employment has told a Senate inquiry that almost two-thirds of large fast food, retail, hospitality and pharmacy deals pay less than the award for Sunday work.
New data shows the Fair Work Commission's "triage" process for assessing whether enterprise agreements pass the Better Off Overall Test is resulting in closer scrutiny of workplace deals.
An FWC full bench has quashed an agreement struck with five Sigma Healthcare recruits, finding the NUW had been denied natural justice when the pharmaceuticals giant failed to provide it with its application for approval on the basis that the union had ceased to be a bargaining representative.
An employer has convinced the FWC to terminate an agreement that it claimed made it uncompetitive because of unaffordable pay rates and non-compliance with the national construction code.
The FWC today gave a strong signal that it is anxious to bring to a head Coles employee Penny Vickers' bid to terminate the supermarket giant's enterprise agreement, acknowledging criticism that the case had dragged on before granting the night-fill worker an extension to supply supporting documents.
The Independent Education Union is urging NSW and ACT Catholic school teachers to endorse rolling stop-work action after it negotiated a "pretty good" agreement that nevertheless contained no guaranteed access to arbitration.
The FAAA says it is delighted with a new deal endorsed by more than 90% of voting Qantas international flight attendants, but the TWU has slammed it for perpetuating a two-tiered system that pays some cabin crew less than half the money for performing the same work.
A lower court has asked the Federal Court to distinguish between "jurisdiction" and "powers" after wrestling with the question in a case where a union accused an employer of breaching its enterprise agreement and the employer counter-claimed that the agreement was not genuinely agreed.
The ASU and Shine Lawyers are awaiting a ruling on whether the FWC will grant a majority support determination so the union can bargain on behalf of employees in Victoria, after the law firm questioned whether the group has been fairly chosen.
