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 MUA has accused Patrick of "bullying" after the stevedore yesterday applied to the FWC to terminate its nominally-expired union deal to break a 20-month bargaining deadlock amid a round of strikes at its container terminals in four states.
The TWU says it has reached in-principle agreements with four more big trucking and logistics companies as it continues campaigning against "Amazon-driven" outsourcing, while warning three remaining targets they face strikes this week.
A Queensland hospital group citing "coercion" concerns has failed to stop the ETU from obtaining a protected action ballot order sought just weeks after an identical ballot failed due to lack of a quorum.
Employers seeking longer notice periods for protected industrial action due to exceptional circumstances might have to provide stronger evidence, after the FWC refused Essential Energy's bid to extend the warning given by the CEPU from three to five days.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected StarTrack's bid to stop a 24-hour strike by TWU members, finding "little evidence" that the protected action would affect delivery of critical medical supplies such as COVID-19 vaccines.
Fair Work Commission member Ian Cambridge has today told StarTrack and the TWU that a "sensible position" should be adopted to ensure a protected 24-hour strike from midnight does not affect the delivery of time-critical goods such as COVID-19 vaccines.
The FWC has granted a contested AEC application to extend voting in a protection action ballot after pandemic-related postal delays held up workers' replies, but it has warned the agency to make more effort to comply with the tribunal's processes.
