The FWC earlier this month halted industrial action at BP's Kwinana oil refinery after it accepted that a shutdown of up to a fortnight would be the "unavoidable and inevitable consequence" of protected bans and limitations by AWU members.
An FWC full bench has used a workplace determination to call on the federal government to relax public sector bargaining guidelines, at the same time as it questioned the legal standing of a major department's decision to "go harder" after workers voted down multiple proposed deals.
In a desperate and highly unusual attempt to have the FWC arbitrate a long-running bargaining dispute, the IEU has unsuccessfully applied to terminate its own industrial action on the basis it poses a danger to student welfare.
BP Australia is seeking to terminate the enterprise agreement for its oil refinery in Western Australia, in the latest case of a big employer using what the Federal Opposition has dubbed the "nuclear option" to break a bargaining deadlock.
The FWC has given short shrift to union applications for a protected action ballot at Kimberly-Clark Australia, finding a cancelled meeting and a week's delay in securing a new date cannot be construed as being obstructive.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered an immediate 4% pay rise for about 13,000 employees of the former Department of Immigration and Border Protection, after noting they have not received any increases for almost five years.
Pilots at budget airline Tigerair have warned that planned industrial action from Friday to Sunday could cause flight delays and cancellations, but unions say it could be back off the table by 5pm today if the employer improves its pay offer and budges on rostering, leave and parking costs.
The Fair Work Commission acceded to a bid by mining giants to terminate a coal loading agreement after concluding that a system of "self-directed" work teams that constrains management prerogative "needs to go".
An FWC full bench has accepted that ordering a "cooling off" period unfairly rewarded an employer for its intransigence in refusing to bargain during a protected strike.
Esso Australia is seeking to prevent the Fair Work Commission from making a workplace determination for its Bass Strait oil and gas operations, arguing its legal basis has been "fatally undermined" by a recent High Court ruling.
