In further legal fallout from the 2012 Grocon dispute, the Federal Court has ruled that the CFMEU and eight of its officials unlawfully coerced the company to agree to its demand to employ union-nominated shop stewards when they blocked access to the Myer Emporium and McNab Avenue sites.
The Fair Work Act's provisions for ending safety-threatening industrial action are broader than those of its predecessor, a senior FWC member has ruled in her reasons for suspending planned NSW power industry stoppages earlier this month.
A group of leading IR academics has made a preemptive strike against any attempt to use the Coalition's "freedoms" inquiry to diminish the immunity from common law liability conferred by the Fair Work Act's protected industrial action provisions.
Senior FWC members will head up enterprise bargaining and dispute resolution workshops in a pilot to kick off in Sydney next month, as part of the tribunal's broader strategy to encourage more productive workplaces.
The High Court will in April hear the CFMEU's argument that it should not be compelled to give Boral information to help the company win its contempt case against the union for allegedly defying injunctions at Victoria's Regional Rail project.
The AiG says that the Abbott Government should amend the Fair Work Act to prevent unions from taking industrial action when they are bargaining for "non-permitted" matters, in the wake of a FWC full bench decision on the issue this week.
A senior FWC full bench has moved to clarify the confusion caused by conflicting decisions on whether unions that bargain for non-permitted matters are "genuinely trying to reach an agreement" under the Fair Work Act.
