Unions representing police, nurses and ambulance officers have expressed strong reservations over the Turnbull Government's legislation to defend the role of volunteers in Victoria's Country Fire Authority, while Professor Andrew Stewart says parties might be able to readily sidestep the legislative restrictions via side deeds.
One Nation has flagged its support for the Senate inquiry into the controversial legislation aimed at restricting volunteer-related clauses in the enterprise agreement covering professional firefighters employed by Victoria's Country Fire Authority.
Victoria's volunteer firefighters will tomorrow revive their bid to block the Country Fire Authority from seeking approval for its new enterprise agreement.
The re-elected Turnbull government will pursue changes to workplace laws covering union right of entry, according to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash.
The Turnbull Government granted FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss new powers soon before calling the federal election, in a bid to stop builders and contractors agreeing to "union-friendly" clauses in enterprise agreements.
The FWC has declined to issue bargaining orders against the MUA for its conduct in negotiations with offshore oil and gas vessel operators, despite finding it misrepresented the employers' position, played "fast and loose with the truth" and behaved in a manner that raised questions about whether it was genuinely trying to make replacement agreements.
Workers on the Gorgon LNG project will begin voting on Wednesday on whether to take industrial action to push head contractor CB&I to offer shorter roster cycles, at the same time as parliamentary inquiries in WA and Queensland have weighed-up whether new regulations are needed for non-residential workforces.
In an important ruling, the Federal Court has found that an interim bargaining order that the MUA didn’t comply with was “spent” and didn’t stop it proceeding with protected industrial action.
