Coles, the SDA and the AWU have today asked an FWC full bench to refuse the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union permission to appear on behalf of two employees seeking to intervene in an application to terminate the supermarket giant's 2011 enterprise agreement.
A senior member of the Federal Court's IR panel has warned that litigation is inevitable if those who draft enterprise agreements use euphemisms to conceal the parties' differences on terms.
The FWC has released a report on its plain English transformation of the pharmacy award and issued guidelines for plain English drafting, before it gives similar treatment to the clerks, retail, hospitality and restaurant awards.
The FWC has ruled that the Rail Tram & Bus Union is not entitled to represent the industrial interests of members covered by a new agreement for the maintenance contractor serving Fortescue Metals Group's rail operations in the Pilbara.
The Fair Work Commission will engage an external "plain language expert" to redraft the Pharmacy Award before it is user-tested in a pilot as part of the tribunal's four-yearly review of modern awards.
The employer push for lower penalty rates in the Fair Work Commission includes expert evidence that most weekend workers have no problem or only minor problems with performing their duties on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected another employer application to create a modern enterprise award rather than be bound by a sector-wide modern award.
