Unions must adopt inventive strategies such as those used by Hospo Voice and RAFFWU to connect with and recruit workers, alongside the organising model used for the past 20 years, but legislative change is also necessary to enable multi-employer bargaining and allow industry-wide or supply-chain based protected action in support of it, according to a leading IR academic.
The MUA claims the competition regulator has failed to show a causal link between waterfront productivity and the content of enterprise agreements negotiated between the union and major stevedores.
The "no enhancements" clause in the Federal public sector's bargaining policy could stymie the adoption of WFH provisions in Australian Public Service enterprise agreements, according to the CPSU's national secretary.
The ACTU's bid for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave has been bolstered by new FWC-commissioned research indicating that a third of recent agreements have a paid entitlement and half of those deals provide at least the quantum the peak body is seeking.
Wage rises in private sector enterprise agreements remain marooned at 2.6%, while public sector increases have dropped back to recent trends, according to new Attorney-General's Department data that appears to confirm that the pandemic has accelerated the long-running decline in bargaining.
Bargained wage rises in the private sector show little sign of pushing towards the "materially higher" benchmark set by the RBA, growing at 2.6% for the second quarter in a row, while public sector bargaining collapsed.
The RBA is warning that wage growth won't be "materially higher" for at least three years, while Centre for Future Work analysis suggests that the proposed Omnibus Bill provision permitting approval of BOOT-failing agreements will further hamper any recovery in pay rises.
Bargained private sector wage rises recovered to near three-year highs in the March quarter, before they felt the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Attorney-General's Department.
Large numbers of retail employees covered by agreements approved in the second half of last year face wage freezes if employers succeed in their campaign for a coronavirus-driven pause in minimum pay rises such as that adopted during the GFC, new Attorney-General's Department data on bargained wage rises reveals.
