The Conversation
Subscribe
  • Academic rigour, journalistic flair
  • For curious minds
  • Expert news and views
  • Debate and ideas
  • From the curious to the serious

Hot Topics

  1. Gay marriage
  2. Australia in the Asian Century
  3. Convergence review
  4. Federal Budget 2012
  5. War on drugs
  6. Bob Brown
  7. Explainer
  8. Square Kilometre Array
  9. Medical myths
  10. Transparency and medicine

Fair Work Australia

Analysis and Comment (18)

Fdpybvxk-1333678511
Former Health Services Union head Craig Thomson represents a vital vote for the Gillard government. AAP Image/Penny Bradfield

Health Services Union: why union members deserve better

The ACTU yesterday voted to suspend the Health Servives Union from affiliation until they can prove that issues of governance have been dealt with appropriately. Although it does seem to have been a slow…
25wbr57x-1331006214
Apprenticeships are an integral part of our workforce. AAP

It’s time to overhaul Australia’s apprenticeship scheme

The ACTU is escalating a push through its case with Fair Work Australia to improve the wages of apprentices, many of whom are paid below the poverty line. There is a case for this and it is long overdue…
Ct6cyfx9-1328574649
Interns should be more than just coffe-gophers … shouldn't they? flickr/happydog

For love not money: interns and the modern workplace

Last week Reuters reported a former intern at Harper’s Bazaar is suing the magazine’s publisher, Hearst Corporation, saying her internship violated US labour laws because it was unpaid. The intern, who…
Rwnz3xyr-1328496575-1328497182
Australian Service Union branch secretary Sally McManus is showered in streamers after Fair Work Australia awarded community workers a landmark pay rise. AAP

The reality of the gender wage gap

As long as people see the gender wage gap as normal, society has a problem. This view is illustrated in a comment by Jeremy Sammut on a Centre for Independent Studies email newsletter: “Forget that the…
Joycehands-jpg-1322196159-1322346235
International examples show that quicker access to arbitration could have avoided the drastic action taken by Qantas chief Alan Joyce. AAP

Qantas case shows the need for interest arbitration

As the Qantas dispute moves into the arbitration phase in Fair Work Australia (FWA), it is timely to consider whether the tests for access to arbitration under the Fair Work Act need refining. Prompted…
Joycepresser%20smaller
Will arbitration by Fair Work Australia provide the outcome Qantas chief Alan Joyce wants? Not necessarily. AAP

The Qantas dispute: What next and a recap

Memo to the Qantas public relations team: if you mount a Twitter campaign calling for travellers' luxury flying experiences in the middle of an unresolved industrial dispute, be aware there might be a…
Nurses
After 20 years of enterprise bargaining, are we seeing an unintended return to compulsory arbitration? AAP

First Qantas, now nurses. Has the IR game changed?

With the threat of further industrial action at Qantas looming and Victorian nurses continuing with their rolling work bans, you could be forgiven for thinking that Australia has entered a new phase of…
Qantaselephant
In debate over the Qantas IR dispute, the truth of the Fair Work Act is the elephant in the room. AAP

Before calling for reform, let’s get our Fair Work facts straight

The drawn-out dispute between Qantas and unions that led to the airline’s entire fleet being grounded over the weekend has sparked calls for reform of Australia’s industrial relations laws. Business leaders…
Shutdown-1320023421
Qantas flights are back in the air after Fair Work Australia ordered the termination of industrial action. AAP

Fair Work Australia decision reveals the flaw in Qantas' strategy

The Fair Work Australia (FWA) decision on the Qantas industrial dispute makes it clear the action by the three unions was not enough to trigger a decision by FWA to terminate the bargaining periods. A…
Qantasempty
FWA used legislation enacted in 1993 to protect the economy from protracted industrial action. AAP

Why Fair Work Australia terminated the Qantas industrial action

Read the Fair Work Australia decision here Read Roy Green, Dean of UTS Business School: Planes set to fly again – but what now for Qantas? Read our previous coverage here The decision by Fair Work…
Pilot_empty_terminal
Staff are due to be locked out by Qantas management at 8pm on Monday.

Qantas grounding: expert comment

The stakes are high for both the union movement and Qantas, as a Fairwork Australia hearing aimed at ending the industrial crisis which has grounded Qantas planes continues this evening. Qantas wants…
Pic_-_peter_reith_rae_coioper_piece
Peter Reith votes in the Liberal Federal presidency election. AAP

Peter Reith, Tony Abbott and the industrial relations maze

“Julia Gillard’s retrograde changes to workplace relations law are slowly burning our economy and in time the voices of embattled business will be heard across the country.” – Peter Reith, The Age, June…
Gillard_workers
The Labor government has shied away from making substantial changes in industrial relations law. AAP/Patrick Hamilton

Fair work? It’s all about political spin in industrial relations

Peter Reith’s spectacular re-emergence into Australian politics has enlivened the so-called “IR” debate. His intervention has called forth a flood of commentary, from Tony Abbott (who now supports “practical…
Roofer_pic
Workers will see a percentage increase in their pay packet from today. AAP/Greg Wood

Explainer: What the new minimum wage really means for workers

Fair Work Australia’s annual wage determination takes effect today. Importantly, we’re set to see award wages rise not by a single dollar sum, as in the past, but by 3.4%. This goes someway to addressing…
Job2-1308639115
FairWork Australia's decision will allow young workers more flexibility. AAP

The after-school job is the comeback kid

Fair Work Australia’s decision to relax the minimum shift requirement for school kids from three hours to 90 minutes has been praised by employer groups and criticised by unions, who fear low-paid teens…
Pic_-_blokes_boom
Men are the economic winners from the current resources boom flickr/robstephaustralia

The Boom: blokes are benefiting. What about women?

In a decision hailed as ground breaking Fair Work Australia has recently determined that gender is a key factor in women’s low pay. Essentially the argument is that workers in the female dominated community…

Research and News (1)