October 2022
Business pushes urgent IR changes to stop ‘Trojan horse’ for strikes
Business groups are alarmed that the bill will introduce industry strike rights and rope unwilling employers into multi-enterprise deals
- Updated
- Andrew Tillett and David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
Business has been outfoxed by the unions and Labor
The government isn’t hostile to companies. But it suits its agenda to portray them as the villain in the pantomime.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Start-ups
Tech start-up ‘churn and burn’ model of firing staff must end
Aussie start-ups have been misguided in aping Silicon Valley by over-hiring and overpaying staff with VC money, only to fire people at will when sentiment changes.
- Angus Dorney
Job access for workers with a disability gets $20m boost
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says Labor will spend $20 million to subsidise efforts of employers taking on workers with a disability.
- Tom McIlroy
September 2022
Small business council rules out strike powers in union deal
The small business council has ruled out new rights to strike across employers as part of a review of its pact with unions on multi-employer bargaining.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Mining
We can do better than ‘Saudi Australia’
Rather than emulating Venezuela, we could adopt a Norwegian model of government co-investment in future mining projects.
- Richard Holden
Small business council to review union deal
The Council of Small Business has defended its pact with unions on multi-employer bargaining, arguing that it is “opposed to unionisation of small business”.
- John Kehoe and David Marin-Guzman
Mars Wrigley: double skilled migration now
The marker of Snickers and Pods wants the federal government to give special focus to regional Australia where many food manufactures are based.
- Carrie LaFrenz
Watershed moment as Millennials take charge
The Jobs and Skills Summit was a refreshing mix of youth and diversity, suggesting a watershed change in how politics is played.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Opinion
If business groups were abolished, governments would recreate them
The jobs summit shows how lobbyists like the Business Council of Australia end up being recruited by politicians to skewer their own members.
- Nick Hossack
Toll Global Express boss open to multi-employer bargaining
Christine Holgate has expressed an interest in multi-employer bargaining following the Jobs and Skills Summit.
- Gus McCubbing
Alcohol a major problem for women in the workplace: Jenkins
The role of alcohol in a “work hard, play hard” office culture is disadvantageous and dangerous for women, says Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.
- Gus McCubbing
We weren’t played by unions, says COSBOA
The small business lobby’s chair insists its dealings with the ACTU don’t amount to a commitment to pattern bargaining.
- Andrew Tillett
Hairdressers want more work, bosses need them, but the rules stop them
Hairdressers want to consider all industrial options, including multi-employer bargaining, to simplify a workplace system that they argue stops them from giving staff more hours and addressing labour shortages.
- David Marin-Guzman
Manufacturers back multi-employer deals to stop ‘race to the bottom’
Major commercial air conditioning companies have backed multi-employer bargaining as a way to ensure high industry pay and standards and stop others from undercutting them.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: Dancing to the unions’ tune
Jobs summit and the role of business, unions and the ALP; Pilbara injustice; People’s Choice-Heritage Bank merger; climate “wars” and action.
Umpire could prepare ‘rolled gold’ deals to simplify bargaining
Flexible standard agreements for small business and pre-approval of agreements before they’re put to a vote are some of the ideas coming out of the jobs summit.
- David Marin-Guzman
‘It is a signal that there is more to come’ for women: Mostyn
Labor was unwilling to bring forward its new childcare subsidy to lengthen paid parental leave, but there was still plenty in the summit for women, said Sam Mostyn.
- Sally Patten
Gender pay gap reporting ‘a distraction’: Rich Lister
Sam Kennard of Kennards Self Storage has criticised a move to force companies to publicly report their gender pay gap as a burden that won’t add value to his business.
- Updated
- Edmund Tadros and Yolanda Redrup
- Opinion
- The AFR View
‘Better off’ test means most are not better off
The Australian Financial Review’s exclusive interview with Paul Keating and Bill Kelty effectively exposes how Labor and the unions have undermined productivity and wages growth over the past decade.
- The AFR View