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This Month

Qantas has agreed to pay sacked workers $120 million in compensation.

Sacked Qantas workers win record $120m compensation payout

The Transport Workers Union has won compensation for 1700 baggage handlers and ground workers more than four years after they were illegally sacked.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
A rally protesting the CFMEU administration, at the front of Parliament House in Canberra.

Union warns it might back Greens as CFMEU goes to the High Court

Electrical Trades Union national secretary Michael Wright said the Greens had been on “the right side of history” on union issues.

  • Updated
  • Ronald Mizen
Unionist rallied in Canberra on Tuesday in protest at the CFMEU being placed into administration for alleged links to the crime world.

The secret sting in the union membership surge under Labor

A union membership increase bucking a decade of decline is entirely due to public sector growth, concealing a new low in the private sector.

  • David Marin-Guzman
ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Monday called for interest rate cuts outside the Reserve Bank.

Union growth is back under Labor after a decade of decline

The ACTU says a return to collective bargaining under the Albanese government has helped unions increase their membership to 13 per cent of the workforce.

  • David Marin-Guzman and Michael Read
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and his predecessor Steven Miles

Labor paid $30m to union-backed bodies in dying hours of Qld rule

Despite promising the money as part of its re-election bid, the state government paid it to union-backed training organisations a day before entering caretaker mode.

  • David Marin-Guzman and James Hall
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ETU bans have led to $25 billion worth of projects being delayed.

Breakthrough in crippling dispute holding up housing, roads for months

One of the most damaging industrial actions in the country may come to a stop after Ausgrid power workers ended four months of work bans after striking a deal.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Qatar Airways adds Virgin to its growing list of airline stakes.

Union demands CEO veto in exchange for supporting Virgin’s Qatar deal

The powerful Transport Workers Union is concerned that a former Qantas executive involved in the illegal sacking of staff is the frontrunner for the top job.

  • Updated
  • Ayesha de Kretser

November

Two fund directors appointed by the union have been removed from their roles.

How CFMEU wields control of a $1.2b workers’ redundancy fund

The chief executive of Incolink warned an employer group that the union could deprive it of tens of millions of dollars if they did not agree to demands.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Construction workers attending Lendlease’s One Circular Quay tower on Monday morning.

Fears that $10b in building sites will grind to a halt on Tuesday

The Electrical Trades Union visited Lendlease, Multiplex and Mirvac sites to urge workers to attend an industry rally protesting the CFMEU administration.

  • David Marin-Guzman
CFMEU delegates and members protest the union’s administration at a mass rally in August.

Rogue CFMEU protesters defy administrator’s warning over walkout

CFMEU protesters in NSW have rejected warnings that they will face consequences if they attend a mass rally next week against the administration.

  • David Marin-Guzman

October

Simon Crowe, Grill’d CEO, has recently faced scrutiny over $30 million in taxpayer subsidies for its traineeships.

Grill’d accused of shonky wage deal

The national burger chain has found a new loophole to pay thousands of workers below minimum industry rates, the fast-food workers’ union has claimed.

  • David Marin-Guzman

Rebel unions threaten to fund independent candidates to challenge Labor

The exiled CFMEU leadership is planning more mass walkouts of construction workers, as blue-collar unionists consider changes to future political funding.

  • David Marin-Guzman and Gus McCubbing
ACTU boss Sally McManus said moving between living places was the cost of the tackling corruption.

Sally McManus has two black belts, but lives at risk of CFMEU fallout

The ACTU secretary has been forced to live in different places and vary her routine due to security concerns arising from the crackdown on the union.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Nothing says union power like a multimillion-dollar five-bedroom home with a butler’s pantry.

Union finds buyer for the boss’ subsidised McMansion

The $2 million sale is decent, but it does raise the question: would union dues have been better served elsewhere?

  • Max Mason

September

Qube employees in Melbourne temporarily refused to handle goods carried on the Turandot as part of strike action.

Qube sues own employees for damages for blocking ship services

A wage dispute between logistics group Qube and wharfies in Melbourne has escalated after the company sued more than 20 union members.

  • Jenny Wiggins and David Marin-Guzman
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United Firefighters Union national secretary Peter Marshall.

Fire service chiefs’ email hacked to help union boss, inquiry finds

Union boss Peter Marshall asked staff at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade to gather sensitive information, a report by Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found.

  • Gus McCubbing
ETU workers at Transgrid, Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy have enforced work bans which has led to over $25 billion worth of projects being delayed.

Electrical Trades Union win risks more delays for projects worth $25b

It has successfully overturned a two-month suspension of Transgrid workers’ protected industrial action.

  • David Marin-Guzman and Campbell Kwan
Health Workers Union boss Diana Asmar has privately denied allegations against her.

Health Services Union goes to court as Asmar refuses to stand down

The union will launch legal action to put its biggest Victorian branch into administration after Diana Asmar refused to stand down.

  • David Marin-Guzman

August

Australian Workers’ Union state secretary Brad Gandy.

Pay rise guarantees sought by unions aiming to retake the Pilbara

A union wish list outlined to BHP iron ore bosses includes guaranteed annual pay rises that keep up with inflation, a say in rosters and pay equity across all sites.

  • Brad Thompson
Darren Greenfield of the NSW CFMEU.

‘Dangerous’: Labor MP, premier slam CFMEU for threatening Jewish club

Josh Burns said conflating an industrial relations issue with the Israel-Palestine conflict was “divisive and dangerous”. 

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing and David Marin-Guzman

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/unions-1mzn