The FWC has refused to grant Ventia an intractable bargaining declaration it sought after workers at outsourced Defence aviation firefighting operations in Queensland rejected its unilateral offer, in the tribunal's first contested IBD case determined by a single member.
The FWC has played a key role in settling a fiery dispute between the ETU and a battery manufacturer, commending them for taking a "cooperative approach" in accepting the tribunal's recommended changes to a proposed deal.
The FWC has at the second time of asking approved a deal after receiving an undertaking that the employer will not hire anybody under a novel "new entrant" category paying construction workers who become traffic controllers 6% below their award rate at the same time as denying them an industry allowance.
Svitzer has failed to convince a FWC full bench that it has an "unfettered" right to choose which category its employees fall into regardless of operating procedures at five ports.
An employer has failed to win approval for a deal that introduces a "new entrant" category paying construction workers who become traffic controllers 6% below their award rate while denying them an industry allowance, with the FWC unmoved by its argument that they need more supervision.
Container terminal operator DP World's refusal to bargain while MUA members take protected action has contributed to a FWC finding that it would not be in the public interest to suspend it for a 90-day "cooling off" period.
The TWU is asking the FWC to hear in tandem its separate bids for intractable bargaining declaration bids at two Cleanaway Waste Management sites, but the company has no truck with that view, saying the context at each location is "very different".
An employer seeking to be covered by an existing agreement could potentially "operate in a better way" if a clause granting five days leave in return for working on three public holidays is removed, but the FWC has found the change would deny employees the chance to use the entitlement as a bargaining chip.
The FWC has reserved its decision on the first contested intractable bargaining case to be heard by a single member, after service provider Ventia told the tribunal it should find negotiations for outsourced Defence aviation firefighting operations in Queensland have reached an impasse after 15 months of talks and more than 18 months of industrial action.
Shine Lawyers says the exclusion of thousands of SDA members from its McDonald's class action will "inform future interplay" between union and non-union representative proceedings, while a full court ruling has set a "powerful precedent" for using collective action to protect workers' rights.