The head of Networks NSW, which owns the power "poles and wires" entities that are to be privatised if the Coalition wins Saturday's NSW election, is pushing for FWC approval of agreements to be conditional on them undergoing an objective "productivity test" and is backing calls for the creation of a separate FWC appeals jurisdiction.
The CFMEU construction and general division's "cavalier attitude" to court orders has cost it another $125,000, with the Federal Court finding it in contempt of undertakings not to block access to a Victorian wind farm project last year.
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.