The irNews
Subscribe25 Feb - Southern Cross Uni staff strike
Southern Cross University staff who are National Tertiary Education Union members have agreed to strike action after the latest round of lengthy enterprise bargaining negotiations stalled. SCU announced an interim 2% pay rise last year because of delays in negotiations. The NTEU is asking for a 3% pay rise per annum.
20 Feb - Aurizon workers postpone strike
A 24-hour strike organised by rail unions in Queensland by Aurizon employees has been postponed to allow for employees to prepare for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Marcia on Friday.
20 Feb - Boral/CFMEU dispute resolved
A long-running industrial dispute between Boral and the CFMEU has been resolved. Boral’s De Martin & Gasparini concrete subsidiary spent the day negotiating with the CFMEU and employee representatives and reached an in-principle agreement, the details of which will be finalised in further discussion.
19 Feb - Strikes looming against Abbott’s IR agenda
The Department of Agriculture staff seek to join workers from other departments taking protected industrial action. Human Services and Veterans' Affairs who are taking action in protest against proposed new agreements that include cuts to their conditions and pay. Australian Taxation Office workers may be the next public service agency to take industrial action following a pay deal that has angered many of the agency's 21,000 staff and which its union says will result in an extra 300 job losses. The Federal Government’s pay offers of a maximum 1.5%
17 Feb - Teys looks at closing abattoirs
Teys Australia - which has been in a long battle with the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union over an enterprise agreement - said last week's loss in the Federal Court had forced it to consider closing the plant in Beenleigh, south of Brisbane, which would result in 800 job losses.
16 Feb - Queensland paramedics form new union
A third of Queensland’s frontline ambulance officers have ditched their union – United Voice one of the most powerful and oldest in the state. Almost 1000 paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers and patient transport officers have backed an application to register their own representative body. United Voice said it would strongly oppose the application. APAQ has a strong body of evidence to establish that it has the capacity to provide specialised efficient services to its members, as well as undertaking the work value assessment that the registered union has refused to deliver.
13 Feb - Legal action threatened against FSU
ANZ Bank has threatened legal action against the Finance Sector Union over an alleged campaign of intimidation to force members to vote down a proposed enterprise agreement covering the bank’s 21,000 Australian staff. ANZ has said it is offering pay rises of between 3.75% and 5.25% over the next two years for staff who meet performance standards.
9 Feb - Jetstar pilot settlement near
The finalisation of an in-principle agreement with unions for Jetstar's Australian-based pilots also removes the threat of strike action over the busy Easter holidays. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots had withdrawn a request for the right last month to a ballot of its pilot members at Jetstar on whether to take protected industrial action. Once the 18-month wage freeze ends, Jetstar pilots will receive pay increases of 3 per cent a year under the terms of an agreement which expires in 2019. The proposed deal includes provisions that allow pilots to opt for changes to work practices, such as making themselves more available to the airline during peak periods of demand, in exchange for an additional hourly payment.
7 Feb - Weekend Penalties
This year the Fair Work Commission will consider submissions to alter penalty rates across nine industry awards, with peak groups from the retail, pharmacy and restaurant sectors pushing hard for a cut in Sunday rates. Restaurant and Catering Australia will seek a standard weekend rate, bringing the Sunday rate into line with Saturday’s to ensure a 125% rate for full-time workers. Australian Retailers Association will make a submission to the commission urging that Sunday rates be reduced under the General Retail Industry Award from double time to time and a half.
7 Feb - QANTAS settle with Transport Workers Union
QANTAS has secured a wage deal with Transport Workers Union. The deal involving 2600 workers means that of the three unions involved in the 2011 Qantas grounding, only long-haul pilots have yet to ink a deal. The deal rolls over all existing terms and conditions; maintains a ban on compulsory redundancies and provides 3% pay rises from January next year and January 2017. It incorporates the Qantas companywide 18-month wage freeze, consistent with agreements struck with other Qantas unions.
7 Feb - NSW meat workers locked out
Over 300 meat workers at Fletchers International Exports in Dubbo, New South Wales have been locked out since January 29 in an enterprise agreement dispute. The meat workers rejected an initial offer by the company of no wage increase and a roll-over of existing conditions. They decided to strike when Fletchers offered a small increase in the hourly pay rate in exchange for an extra 30 minutes production time.
5 Feb - Delayed public service pay offers
The promises and postponements continue a mass tango between departments and tens of thousands of federal bureaucrats who want to know exactly how much cash they will be paid in the future. Already the Defence Department left 20,000 staff in limbo earlier this week after it postponed detailing its pay offer, although the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has broken its silence to put forward an offer. While the Murray Darling Basin Authority and CASA will not put forward offers next week as scheduled, ATO management has told 20,000 employees it was receiving approvals for its pay offer.
4 Feb - Gas maintenance employees stop work in SA
About 100 APA Group employees held placards and union flags outside the company's depot at Kidman Park during a two-hour stoppage. A new enterprise agreement has been under negotiation since the middle of last year and APA Group declined to comment on the workers' industrial action. The union’s current claim is 3.5% per annum. The company is offering 2.5% along with reductions in current provisions.
2 Feb - IFF workers end sit in
Workers at the International Flavors and Fragrances factory in Dandenong have ended their four-day sit-in and reached agreement with management in the Fair Work Commission. Workers had requested a pay rise tied to inflation and the withdrawal of the claim to remove a $50 a day bonus for unclaimed sick pay and two paid ten-minute breaks a day.
Unless specified, all articles are summaries of articles gathered from various news publications. For full citations please click on the article heading.
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