January
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
FWC case tests Labor’s ‘same job, same pay’ word to BHP
The government assured business the legislation was limited to labour hire providers. Now the minister says the concepts of labour hire and service contractors are “not mutually exclusive”.
July 2024
- Opinion
- Building Bad
Only a full judicial inquiry can lift the lid on the CFMEU
The scandals at the construction union leave a host of unanswered questions that will shape the future of industrial relations in Australia.
January 2024
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
This is the year the union delegates come knocking
The unions have won greater workplace access for their delegates, as the labour movement struggles to instil old-school industrial conflict into a new generation.
July 2023
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
Labor amendments to reverse unions’ High Court defeats
The third wave of IR changes will give unions victory after recent High Court losses on contracts, casuals and the status of officials. Employers face more uncertainty.
January 2023
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
It’s the year Labor brought the conflict model back to workplaces
Even the pro-union Biden administration has not handed unions the powers over employers and workers that Australia’s labour movement has got from Labor.
January 2022
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
Union militancy is a major threat to the recovery in 2022
The increase in disputes in 2021 wasn’t a blip. It’s part of a coordinated strategy to supercharge protected industrial action under enterprise bargaining.