Wages at Alcoa's Western Australian operations could fall by 60% if the company succeeds in terminating its enterprise agreement and no new deal is reached within six months, the Fair Work Commission has heard.
The ETU says a $40,000 penalty against an employer for failing to consult before engaging labour hire workers on inferior pay and conditions sends a message that pre-Building Code job security clauses in agreements are still enforceable.
An FWC full bench majority has refused to let the SDA amend appeals of two Aldi agreements to challenge the retailer's use of the word "leader" instead of "employer" in notices of representative rights, holding that the union must wait until the outcome of a judicial review on the same issue.
An FWC full bench has thrown out a university's attempt to sideline the NTEU over potential redundancies, rejecting as "artificial" its distinction between representing staff in face-to-face meetings and challenging aspects of the proposal once it was circulated.
Alcoa says it would welcome an "alternative proposal" from the AWU after striking workers resoundingly rejected its latest offer, but it will not withdraw a bid to terminate the current deal.
Qube Ports must withdraw final warnings issued to seven Port Kembla workers who refused shift extensions, after the FWC took its bargaining team by "complete surprise" and found the employer misconstrued a common abbreviation in its agreement.
The Full Federal Court has dismissed an employer's attempted challenge to an arbitrated decision by the FWC, finding that an enterprise agreement at Victoria's Yallourn power station and coal mine provided for "final and binding" dispute resolution.
The CFMMEU is negotiating short-term enterprise agreements with some employers so that it can pursue more beneficial deals if there is a change in the "legislative industrial climate", the Fair Work Commission has been told.
The AWU is urging more than 1200 striking Alcoa workers to reject a revised management deal as the action affecting the company's West Australian operations enters its fourth week.
