CFMEU members will have to raise more than $1.9 million over three years to pay the salary of the government-appointed administrator tasked with reforming the union. Angry union bosses have denounced the takeover as an attack on workers and members. Government-appointed administrator and attorney Mark Irving will receive a compensation package of $643,640 per year.
The Transport Workers' Union has ordered the closure of one of its branches after an investigation revealed significant cultural and operational problems. The TWU national council took the decision on Tuesday to close the Victoria and Tasmania branch following an investigation by retired judge Frank Marks.
Resources Minister Madeleine King has denounced the “hysteria” surrounding the union initiative in the Pilbara region and stressed that the federal government's controversial industrial relations laws are “working as intended”.
The militant construction workers' union could be placed under administration at all branches – including those in Western Australia – as early as this weekend after the government reached an agreement with the coalition to pass appropriate legislation. The CFMEU Construction Division has promised to emerge stronger from this process.
Whether in the Pilbara region, at the port of Fremantle or on construction sites across the state, unions are back and disrupting Western Australia's economy in a way they haven't done for decades.
The head of Western Australia's main business lobby has expressed his concerns about a union initiative in the Pilbara region to the new Minister for Industrial Relations, Murray Watt. Chris Rodwell, chief executive of the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confronted Senator Watt about the issue at an industry event on Friday.
Industrial action is looming in the country's most important energy infrastructure sector; unions and companies are reportedly in negotiations to reach an agreement. Workers operating Australian Gas Infrastructure Group's Dampier-Bunbury natural gas pipeline have voted to take industrial action in a ballot that ended last week.
The Western Australian Police Union has rejected a new collective agreement proposed by the state government as a “blatant insult”. The union said in a statement on Tuesday that it received an offer from Western Australia Police last week for a 5 percent increase in the first year, followed by a 3.5 percent increase the … Read more
The Western Australian branch of the militant construction union could be caught up in new laws that allow for tougher action against the CFMEU. The construction industry is calling on politicians to pass the laws quickly, but the coalition and the Greens have signaled that they are not yet satisfied with the legislation.
In today's episode, Ben Harvey discusses the BHP negotiations that could spark a new wave of unionization in the Pilbara.