The ACTU is calling for the next federal government to reduce the statutory age at which Indigenous workers can retire and access superannuation because they are currently "more likely to die than retire".
Department of Defence civilian employees have again rejected a proposed enterprise agreement, with almost 55% voting down an offer that included a 6% pay rise over three years.
The Opposition has hinted that a Shorten Labor Government would axe the Coalition Government's public sector bargaining policy and the 2% wage cap, while 30,000 Victorian public sector employees are set to receive a backdated pay rise after voting up a new agreement.
The union that represents cleaners, disability care workers and security guards is asking the FWC to "convene a special process" in the second half of the year to determine whether it can set a "medium-term target" for the minimum wage, to arrest what it says is a long-term downward trajectory.
At the National Reform Summit in Canberra today, the ACTU will urge the Turnbull Government to adopt measures to boost multifactor and capital productivity, arguing that labour productivity has been growing and "is not the problem".
Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon has rejected union applications for him to stand down from the inquiry on the grounds of apprehended bias, while acknowledging they could still apply to a court to make such a ruling.