Tag: Unions

What made the news this week?

Unions are calling for the Abbott Government to make employment the focus of next week’s Federal Budget, as new ABS figures reveal an increase in unemployment.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has called for the Senate Inquiry into Temporary Work Visas to slow the growth rate of the overseas temporary work program.

Company Directors should be fined and/or imprisoned for up to 20 years as a result of workplace death, according to a new call to action from the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

“Unions in every country negotiating the TPP are calling for negotiations to be shut down unless there are transparent, public mandates that put community interests ahead of company profits.”

We’ve all heard the rhetoric: ‘the union want this’ and ‘the union said that’, but the fundamental point that HR, media and some employers have forgotten is that the union isn’t made up of officials. It’s not the lady in the office that processes new membership applications. It’s the employees.

As with most IR topics, enterprise bargaining has taken its fair share of beatings. Employer groups continue to call for tighter controls and unions call for loosening of the chains. But what will the next era hold for this contentious industrial relations issue?

The Australian Services Union has negotiated an Australian-first family violence leave entitlement with the Surf Coast Shire in Victoria, in a deal the ACTU heralds as a new template for all workplaces.

Delays are expected at Sydney Airport today as Transport Workers Union members at Airport Fuel Services strike over a proposed pay deal with the company.

The AWU and AMWU are taking legal action against former company director of Forgecast Australia Pty Ltd over $2 million in unpaid entitlements.