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    Industrial relations

    Today

    Hard road: Large Queensland renewables projects are baking in higher costs that benefit the CFMEU but no-one else, industry says.

    Labor rules giving building unions more powers on projects

    The construction industry in Queensland is worried about state policies that benefit the CFMEU, but which will saddle consumers with great costs.

    • Michael Bleby, James Hall and David Marin-Guzman

    Yesterday

    WA Premier Roger Cook.

    Construction industry ‘much more respectful’ in WA

    The Western Australian Labor government is unlikely to follow moves by eastern states to impose compulsory requirements for union agreements.

    • Tom Rabe
    Up and up: Commercial building agreements are pushing up costs of housing, industry groups say.

    Apartment starts fall to 11-year low

    Industry groups say the extra costs of construction union agreements compound rising materials and financing costs to make housing projects unprofitable.

    • Michael Bleby
    Workplace Minister Tony Burke addressing the media on Wednesday.

    ‘Not a threat, it’s very real’: CFMEU retaliation tactics in focus

    Victorian firms strong-armed into signing enterprise bargaining agreements say they are too afraid of speaking out against the CFMEU for fear of reprisals.

    • Ronald Mizen

    This Month

    Anthony Albanese will intervene to clean up CFMEU.

    Albanese to push aside CFMEU bosses

    The Albanese government will seek to appoint an external administrator to clean up the CFMEU, sidelining its national and state leaders. The MUA is also considering whether to split from the CFMEU.

    • David Marin-Guzman, Phillip Coorey, Hannah Wootton and Gus McCubbing
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    Flag of authority: But the NSW building industry association says it wants builders to reconsider before signing a new enterprise agreement with the CFMEU.

    ‘We can’t even dictate contractors’: NSW builders eye EBA changes

    Contractors in Australia’s largest state say they have lost influence to the main construction union.

    • Michael Bleby

    ‘The dam is breaking’: Setka resignation blow to culture of fear

    The CFMEU boss’ departure was a shock even to his own officials, but it is a watershed moment for the culture of silence and intimidation that has ruled the construction industry.

    • David Marin-Guzman
    CFMEU boss John Setka in June.

    Setka quits CFMEU effective immediately

    Powerful CFMEU boss John Setka has quit the union ahead of explosive allegations regarding misconduct involving himself and the union.

    • David Marin-Guzman
    Master Builders Queensland chief executive Paul Bidwell says the industry wants the government to introduce more flexibility in the conditions.

    CFMEU conditions risk pushing up Queensland build costs by a third

    Restrictive CFMEU conditions on Queensland sites risk dragging out work and making apartment buildings up to 33 per cent more expensive to build, a new analysis says.

    • David Marin-Guzman
    Samsung workers outside the company’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.

    Samsung workers strike ‘indefinitely’ in global chip risk

    The union of 30,000 workers will go on strike in action that may snowball to trigger similar responses across a recovering tech and chip industry.

    • Sohee Kim and Shinhye Kang
    Dr Shaun Jackson.

    Heart Research Institute fights claim it ousted whistle-blower

    The Heart Research Institute faces allegations it pushed out its former head of cardiovascular research because he raised concerns about underpayment of funds and conduct of board members.

    • Max Mason
    The CFMEU’s wage deal in NSW totalled 22 per cent over four years and was the highest in the country.

    CFMEU deal helps add 10pc to apartment costs

    The CFMEU’s latest wages deal for NSW will increase labour costs by up to 19 per cent in the first year alone, a new analysis finds.

    • David Marin-Guzman
    This is the new normal for working from home and commuting into the office.

    This is the new normal of office life

    Flexible working patterns in a decent place that makes it easy to do the job you’re paid for is a basic recipe for success in a post-pandemic world.

    • Updated
    • Pilita Clark
    Part of the $2.3 billion EnergyConnect transmission line being built between South Australia and NSW.

    $2.3b energy project faces cost blowouts

    The problems plaguing the EnergyConnect scheme add to major delays at other projects key to Australia’s energy transition including the $12 billion Snowy 2.0.

    • Jenny Wiggins and Angela Macdonald-Smith
    About 40 pilot boat operators and vessel traffic service officers at Fremantle have threatened to take industrial action next week.

    ‘The port would stop’: Fremantle workers threaten to walk off job

    Western Australia’s largest container port could grind to a halt next week if a small group of key staff stop work over a pay dispute.

    • Tom Rabe
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    Health Services Union president Gerard Hayes criticised the government for having to be “dragged” to a shorter timeline.

    Aged care pay rise delayed due to Labor funding decision

    Pay rises for 250,000 aged care workers of up to 14 per cent – likely costing up to $5 billion extra in government funding – have been delayed until next year.

    • David Marin-Guzman

    June

    Endeavour Energy workers have been delaying the $1.7 billion M7-M12 integration since March, not showing up to at least two appointments.

    Union bans delay $1.7b transport link to Western Sydney Airport

    Industrial action has delayed the critical interchange for the city’s second airport by months and is sending subcontractors close to the wall.

    • Campbell Kwan and David Marin-Guzman
    Dr Alison Barnes, National President, National Tertiary Education Union.

    Unis should face inquiry into $380m in underpayments: academics’ union

    Universities are the worst underpayers of staff across the economy and now the academics’ union wants a federal inquiry.

    • Julie Hare
    Mick Owens, the general manager of Greenfields Developments, estimates construction of about 1600 homes has been delayed due to industrial action by Endeavour Energy workers.

    Pay dispute delays construction of 1600 homes

    Industrial action by workers at poles and wires company Endeavour Energy is stalling the delivery of 1600 homes and $1.2 billion worth of warehouses in Sydney.

    • Campbell Kwan and David Marin-Guzman
    The nurses union has said that the government must pay higher wages to attract nurses and midwives back to the profession.

    Nurses identify ‘$1.2bn’ in savings for 15 per cent pay rise

    Deloitte’s report for the NSW nurses’ union found the state government may have missed out on more than $3 billion in Commonwealth funding due to inaccurate data.

    • David Marin-Guzman

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