Union Wins Landmark Workplace Agreement After Three-Year BHP Battle

BY DAKOTA TAIT

A three-year workplace negotiations dispute between BHP and the union Professionals Australia has finally ended after the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of workers to establish a new deal.

The new enterprise agreement, the first to cover mine supervisors, locks in key conditions such as redundancy provisions for workers at BHP's Mount Arthur coal mine at Muswellbrook.

Workers had been repeatedly shut down by BHP while attempting to secure protections for the conditions over the past three years.

The mine was also recently put up for sale by the company, raising concern about possible job losses.

The union's Collieries’ Staff Division Director Catherine Bolger says the decision meant "certainty and security" for around 75 families.

"The agreement has been a long time in the making," Ms Bolger said. "Initially BHP were reluctant to have an agreement for their supervisors." 

"It's also a landmark for other supervisors in the Hunter Valley who now concede that their colleagues at Mount Arthur have won an agreement and it provides them the benchmark that they can also pursue."

The Fair Work Commission found that BHP's conduct was unfair and that they had used delay tactics in breach of the Fair Work Act.

Ms Bolger says the union is looking forward to working with the company to implement the new agreement.

Image credit: https://www.bhp.com/

Hunter And Central Coast Sushi Bar Operator Fined

BY IAN CROUCH

The former owners of sushi outlets in the Hunter and Central Coast have been fined more than $380,000 for ripping off staff.

Tokyo Sushi Bar, which operated outlets at Fletcher and Gosford, was taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman after inspectors found evidence 31 employees had been underpaid by more than $70,000 in 2016.

Many of the workers were junior employees or vulnerable visa holders.

Fair Work Ombudsman, Sandra Parker said visa holders were particularly vulnerable to exploitation as they were unaware of their workplace rights, saying the regulator is cracking down on underpayments in the fast food industry.

BREAKING! Fair Work Overrules RTBU Strike

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

In good news for Hunter commuters, a statewide planned stoppage to rail services on Monday will not go ahead.

The Rail Tram and Bus Union has been brought to its knees by a decision of the Fair Work Commission to ban Monday's strike- industrial action has been suspended for six weeks' time.

The Commission has justified the decision by considering the detrimental effects of a complete stoppage on the NSW economy, as government lawyers argued it could cost the state between $50 to $90 million as people struggle to get to work, school or anywhere else.

Utter chaos was experienced in the Sydney CBD today as commuters packed onto intercity trains running at a weekend frequency.

Fair Work believed if a ban on overtime hours could create such havoc, a total stoppage could endanger the population and grind productivity to a halt.

After joining talks between the RTBU and Transport Minister Andrew Constance today, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told reporters at Martin Place she's confident that, with the Commission's decision, the government will now be able to put the needs of the community first.

"I want to send the strongest message to the Rail Union and all NSW unions that we have a strong wages policy in place and we will continue to adhere to that policy moving forward," Ms Berejiklian said.

2NURFM News spoke to RTBU Secretary Alex Claassens yesterday, who slammed Transport Minister Andrew Constance's role in negotiations.

"In my experience (and I've worked under a lot of transport ministers) most of them have been conciliatory and understood the pressure we're all under...most of them have always agreed to sit down and talk about it. This guy's not prepared to."

Amidst the Union and media scrutiny, Premier Berejiklian today defended Andrew Constance's handling of the fiasco, expressing her gratitude to him.

Packed like sardines: a Sydney train during today's overtime ban.