The Shop Union has asked the IRC to reject a non-union agreement for OPSM, alleging the company's managers undermined an independently-run secret ballot by voting on behalf of some employees, asking others to verbally indicate their voting intention, and failing to give some the opportunity to vote.
Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's former right-hand man, Industrial Registrar Peter Richards, has introduced a new s170LJ enterprise agreement at the Australian Industrial Registry that allows paid time off for pre-natal checkups and emphasises teamwork.
The CFMEU (construction & general division) looks likely to make big inroads into the AWU's 7,000-strong membership in the civil construction sector, following the CFMEU's successful bid to represent workers in the civil construction sector.
The FSU has had its first success in a new two-pronged campaign to increase the regulation of casuals and labour hire employees in the finance industry.
Employers in the metals sector could see the stridency of the enterprise bargaining campaigns in Victoria extend to the rest of the country if the AMWU's militant Workers First faction is successful in toppling the union's national and Victorian leadership in upcoming elections.
Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith and Conservative state governments are proposing a living wage increase of $8 up to C10 level ($447.20) in the metals award - a third of the $24 sought by the ACTU.
