Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has intervened in the bargaining standoff at the Australian Rail Track Corporation, accusing rail unions of misleading their members ahead of a crucial ballot tomorrow.
Esso Australia has applied to terminate two important enterprise agreements at its Bass Strait oil and gas operations, becoming the latest big employer to use what one union has dubbed the "sledgehammer approach" to break a bargaining deadlock.
Protected industrial action at the Australian Rail Track Corporation is continuing ahead of workers voting on a management deal featuring annual pay rises of 2%, half the increase sought by unions.
The Fair Work Ombudsman's investigation into March's wildcat strike by Fairfax Media journalists has found that it is "not in the public interest" to take any further action, ending speculation that MEAA members could face heavy fines.
United Voice members at Crown Melbourne have formally rejected a 2.75% annual pay rise offer as they prepare to "go public" with their campaign for a 5% annual raise and a new allowance for working evening and graveyard shifts on Fridays and Saturdays.
The CPSU is looking to break the impasse over public sector bargaining with a new round of industrial action, led by a 24-hour strike next Thursday (August 12) at international airports.
The NUW has won average pay increases of about 4.75% a year for 650 workers after a three-day strike at a major Victorian distribution centre for Coles supermarkets.
The major labour hire company embroiled in the Carlton & United Breweries dispute in Melbourne has begun a novel anti-bullying case and general protections claim against the ETU.
Coles has alleged the NUW is engaged in unlawful pickets at "contingency sites" established to distribute food to its Victorian stores after the start of indefinite strike at a key distribution centre.
