A lawyer for early childhood education employers involved in the sector's supported bargaining test case says that for future applications where participants are not as aligned, he suspects it will be a slow, challenging and "very cumbersome process", while a union leader in the case says the FWC is helping to bring the parties together.
The FWC looks set to arbitrate the bargaining deadlock at Fire Rescue Victoria next year, after it scheduled a hearing date next month to hear threshold issues arising from its first intractable bargaining declaration.
A judge has lamented the shortage of "common sense" on display in a case in which a union contends a government agency breached its agreement's secure jobs and consultation provisions when it engaged a roadworks contractor.
In a significant ruling on agreement coverage, a full Federal Court has found that two Catholic school teachers are entitled to pay rises contained in new deals despite resigning before they took effect.
The union that won the first multi-employer bargaining authorisation under the Secure Jobs provisions is now seeking an intractable bargaining declaration as Catholic school teachers prepare to vote on a third unilateral offer after two years of fruitless single-interest bargaining.
The RTBU and ASU will today test whether employers can make deals directly with their employees after the termination of protected action to bypass the subsequent 21 days of negotiations and avoid the ensuing arbitration of an agreement.
The Australian Education Union told the FWC this afternoon that its revised application for a multi-employer bargaining authorisation for 12 TAFE institutes in Victoria might assuage employer concerns.
Union members employed by Chevron have endorsed draft enterprise agreements covering three major gas projects and agreed to suspend planned industrial action due to resume tomorrow.
Sydney Water is facing potential industrial action as early as tomorrow, with unions this morning expected to tell the FWC that members have rejected the tribunal's recommended deal to settle their bargaining dispute.
