BHP has a "compelling safety case" for introducing a mandatory vaccination policy to control COVID-19 at its mine sites, a five-member Fair Work Commission full bench heard today.
BHP Billiton has filed evidence from high-profile epidemiologist Professor Marylouise McLaws in defence of the company's workplace vaccination mandate at its Mt Arthur coal mine.
Three big unions appear to have pulled out of giving evidence to a Federal parliamentary inquiry that will hear from two unregistered organisations that are signing up workers opposed to workplace vaccination mandates.
The ACTU has signed off on its Federal election campaign strategy, which will feature "blanket visits and union presence in all medium to large workplaces".
The TWU's in-principle three-year agreement with Australia Post subsidiary StarTrack will deliver annual wage rises that match CPI increases in the second and third years of the deal if inflation exceeds 3%.
Workers at BHP's Mt Arthur coal mine who have defied a vaccination mandate face being refused access to the site, disciplinary action and the loss of pay after the CFMMEU failed to win interim orders to block it.
Patrick Terminals has on the basis of a claimed threat to the national economy applied to terminate industrial action by MUA members at its four container terminals, increasing pressure on the union to reach a new enterprise agreement.
The FWC will hear the CFMMEU's challenge to BHP's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy later this month after deciding the matter is significant enough to invite IR Minister Michaelia Cash, the ACTU and peak employer bodies to intervene.
The ACCC says IR has played a "pivotal role" in inhibiting productivity and efficiency gains at Australian ports, citing clauses in enterprise agreements that restrict recruitment decisions and automation.
The MUA has begun legal action aimed at requiring the stevedore DP World to engage with 22 employees sacked for not acceding to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
