An individual bargaining agent has failed to persuade the FWC that it should not permit Australia's largest private sector company and second-biggest union – both with substantial legal and IR capacity – from engaging external lawyers to defend a bargaining order bid, as negotiations continue to replace its supermarkets deal.
One of the country's longest-running bargaining disputes has sprung to life again after the FWC granted the AMWU a majority support determination despite protestations from employer Cochlear that union officials trespassed on its premises in pursuit of petition signatures.
Biotechnology giant CSL has failed to win rare bargaining orders sought against two maintenance unions after the FWC dismissed a HR manager's "flimsy" evidence that contractors had been intimidated by a picket.
CSL has fended off interim orders that would have halted negotiations for a new deal for workers at a flagship vaccine-making facility due to start operating in 2026, after unions raised concerns that a leaked internal document revealed plans to undermine existing pay and conditions.
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 Victorian rail union's hope that its new Metro Trains agreement will be replicated across the State's regional network has hit a snag, with negotiations moving into the FWC following industrial action last week.
The TWU has endorsed an in-principle deal for Virgin ground workers that will lift their pay by as much as 20% in the first year, but the airline's cabin crew are still considering industrial action as the FAAA maintains their offer is not enough off the back of "poverty rates".
The UWU has struck in-principle agreements covering thousands of workers at Melbourne's Crown casino after management tabled an improved offer, which averted planned protected industrial action in the form of a mass walk-out on Saturday evening.
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.
