The IEU's WA branch has leapt right out of the gates to become the first union to seek a single interest multi-employer bargaining authorisation, using the Albanese Government's Secure Jobs changes to compel Catholic school employers to negotiate on behalf of thousands of general and education support workers.
In the first test of new supported bargaining laws, the FWC will hear in mid-August the landmark application to authorise multi-employer negotiations involving 65 employers and 12,000 workers in the early childhood education and care sector.
Visy workers in South Australia will receive a backdated 8.6% pay boost after the FWC found that their deal's annual rise clause applied the state's CPI figure rather than the lower national inflation rate.
The NTEU is calling on Monash University to rectify $9 million in alleged underpayments to casual teachers after the FWC rejected a bid to retrospectively vary its agreement, while its vice chancellor and soon-to-be Victorian Governor says that without a "grand bargain" their payment systems will remain an "unproductive source of contestation".
Svitzer Australia workers have voted up a new national towage deal despite the MUA urging members to reject it in a late about-turn prompted by concerns that a union-proposed clause might let the company "outsource at any time" following consultation.
Bunnings workers have voted up a long-awaited deal that introduces an extra week of annual leave, trials a four-day working week and scraps a contentious "bank of hours" rostering system, but RAFFWU claims it undercuts award minimums and is "simply not approvable in its current format".
Three unions have today lodged a landmark application for supported multi-employer bargaining in the early childhood education and care sector, with 65 employers joining the application that covers more than 12,000 workers nationally.
A FWC full bench has rejected a farmworker's bid to scrap casual overtime award rates she claims prompted an employer to sideline her during a peak harvest period because she reached the maximum ordinary hours.
The FWC has rejected a union bid to bill an aged care provider 15 minutes' overtime for workers required to have rapid antigen tests before each shift, but held that the employer "could and should have done more" to clarify its position.
Many employers are still scrambling to work out what the next raft of Secure Jobs changes will mean for them when they take effect next Tuesday and fear being "caught by surprise", according to the Ai Group, while the FWC has added a series of videos to its information packages on the amendments.
