Recent political and even Reserve Bank commentary remarks upon how wages growth has stalled, although the causes attributed to it vary. What is clear is that low wages growth is not limited to the Australian economy, but is a feature of many advanced economies, including the US. Recently, Judith...
In July 2015 the COLES STORE TEAM ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT was lodged with the FWC for approval, which was duly granted by Commissioner Geoff Bull after some discussion and undertakings were provided by Coles. Many agreements have taken the same path, however it has not been smooth sailing for Coles...
Much press attention was given to a recently negotiated ‘template’ agreement in South Australia, between Business SA, and the South Australian Branch of the SDA. Employers have reportedly welcomed the “removal” of weekend penalties, and Bill Shorten, leader of the Federal Labor Opposition, has...
She might be right in some areas of the economy, but my experience is that life is definitely much more ‘pluralistic’ than that. Often it is employees and unions that have held the whip hand for decades, and employers feel it is pointless to fight that. We have conducted strategy sessions with...
Employers are partnering with specialist EBA organisations to sharpen their knowledge, skills, strategies and tactics in order to secure EBA outcomes that better reflect the needs of the business and their employees. A revolution indeed! Gladstone (Curtis Island) Workers narrowly voted last week...
Whilst the Abbott Federal Government is still negotiating its way through being able to get its legislative agenda through the Senate, one piece of draft legislation may already be affecting how businesses in the Building and Construction industry conduct their operations and deal with unions. A...
Paul Howes got something right, although like many of you I am rather ungraciously questioning his motivation (Yes, Minister). It is clear that the current industrial relations system is not working in the way that our country needs it to. Whilst many employees and their union representatives have benefited from Australia’s long history of strong economic growth, there are at least three things that concern me.
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has highlighted the difficulty many employers will face if they wish to terminate an expired enterprise agreement – even with the overwhelming support of the majority of the employees covered by the expired agreement.
In a recent decision an agreement approval application was refused by Senior Deputy President (SDP) O’Callaghan, due to concerns that the employees to be covered by the proposed agreement had not genuinely understood and agreed to the terms.
The new Guidelines, which apply to all projects that were the subject of an expression of interest or tender let for the first time on or after 1 May 2012, reflect the changes in legislation with the introduction of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act).
