Industrial disputes & news - 18 June 2025
CDC/Dysons; Sydney Trains; Vic mental health workers; Riverina Water; QUBE; ASU multi-employer bargaining; BMS; Snowy 2.0; Pluto 2; Strathcona Girls Grammar; Tolosa Street; Noosa City Council & Alstom
TWU Vic - CDC/Dysons
Approximately 600 bus drivers at CDC took another 24 hours of strike action on Monday (16/6). Originally, it had been planned for drivers at both CDC and Dysons to take 2 days of strike action. By Wednesday (11/6) it was down to 1 day of industrial action at both companies. On Friday (13/6) it was reported in Australasian Bus and Coach that a new agreement had been voted up by Dysons drivers, and as such they would not participate in industrial action. The report claims that it was a close vote with only 51% endorsing the deal, which apparently contains the original pay offer from Dysons of “13 per cent over three years, increases to allowances and a commitment on overtime parity.” It is unclear what the status of CDC negotiations is. Feels like something is going on here - if you’re a bus driver with further details, please get in touch!
CRU/ETU NSW - Sydney Trains
On Friday (13/6) the FWC ordered that the in-principle agreement made between the Combined Rail Unions and the state government be put to workers to vote on. The ETU attempted to block the agreement being put to a vote due to being excluded from attending some meetings by the RTBU and more significantly in relation to a claim regarding classification structures. Having been unsuccessful, the in-principle agreement will be voted on by workers in the first week of July. This will most likely bring to an end a long running dispute - the first industrial action took place in September 2024. Workers have won a 12% pay increase over 3 years.
HACSU Vic - Public sector mental health workers
Mental health workers from public hospitals; Forensicare as well as public sector workers from in-patient units, continuing care units, community teams, emergency mental health teams, CATT teams and hospital outreach post-suicide engagement teams participated in a statewide stop work action yesterday (17/6). Workers rallied outside Trades Hall in Melbourne before marching to Parliament House. Negotiations for a new agreement commenced in July last year, and industrial action has been underway since February. This is the second, statewide strike. Workers are fighting for a fair deal from the government that ensures all workers in the sector get the pay and conditions that they deserve.
USU/ETU NSW - Riverina Water
USU & ETU members were due to meet last Thursday (12/6) to discuss a “compromise position” from Riverina Water. While the position doesn’t resolve the discrepancy of hours workers between indoors and outdoors employees at the agency, it was tentatively accepted by the USU and ETU. The deal would see outdoors workers who currently work 38 hours per week move to a trial of a condensed 4-day working week. The compromise position also delivers an extra 1% wage increase with a total 14% wage increase over 3 years (6%, 4%, 4%). Unions and Riverina Water will head back to the NSW IRC on Friday (20/6) to ascertain next steps.
CFMEU QLD - QUBE
On Friday (13/6), workers voted down the latest offer from QUBE. Workers have been on indefinite strike with a 24/7 picket since 28 May. In addition to putting forward a substandard offer, QUBE has been bringing in labour hire workers to try and break the strike and hiring security guards to block permit holders from carrying out safety inspections. All round very poor behaviour. What can you expect from a company founded by a grub like Chris Corrigan?
ASU Victoria - Council Multi Employer Bargaining (MEB)
I thought it would be timely for a quick update on the ASU’s multi-employer bargaining campaign in the local council sector.
For the Metro agreement, where 10 metropolitan EBAs all expire this month:
Workers at the City of Melbourne & Maribrynong have won employer ballots for MEB
Darebin, Brimbank, Yarra and Port Phillip are all at various stages of putting single-employer EBAs to vote in an attempt to avoid MEB. Worryingly, the Brimbank EBA may have been voted up by a slim majority, but that is still to be confirmed.
Greater Dandenong has consented to MEB and Hobsons Bay is “not actively opposing the application”
8 councils (Brimbank, Darebin, Hume, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Merri-bek, Port Phillip and Yarra) contested the ASU’s FWC application, but ultimately the ASU was successful in clearing the first hurdle at the Commission. The next FWC hearing will be after 4 July when all EBAs have expired.
There is also plenty going on in the regions:
Bargaining is underway for a multi-employer agreement at Ararat Rural City and Central Goldfields Shire Councils with agreement already reached on the superior redundancy clause, transfer of business entitlements, parental leave and flexible working arrangements.
Workers at Warrnambool, Golden Plains, Horsham, Southern Grampians and Colac Otway all want to pursue multi-employer bargaining and are building support through petitions. The Councils have all refused to get on board with MEB and are commencing single employer bargaining.
Warrnambool City Council are trying to push through a new single-employer EBA to deny workers the right to participate in MEB. The ASU is running a NO campaign to try and vote down the agreement.
CFMEU Vic - BMS
Crane operators at the Golden Plains Windfarm in Rokewood have been participating in stoppages for two weeks. The union has been in negotiations with BMS since December for decent pay and industry standard conditions.
AWU/AMWU/CFMEU/ETU/PPTEU NSW - Snowy 2.0
Last Wednesday (11/6) workers at Snowy 2.0 walked off the job and also gave notice of 5 consecutive 24 hour strikes to start on Monday (16/6). The strikes did not go ahead though, as FWC Deputy President Tony Slevin recommended a “pause” in industrial action for a fortnight to allow for “intensive bargaining”. Unions agreed to this recommendation. Contractor Webuild was to provide a draft agreement to unions on Friday (13/6) and three days of bargaining were to take place this week. The FWC also recommended that Webuild facilitate paid meeting time for workers to hear a report back on negotiations.
AWU - AMWU/ETU/CFMEU - Pluto 2
It appears there are some industrial tensions brewing at Pluto 2. Pluto Train 2 is the expansion of a second LNG train at the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility near Karratha. According to a “Pluto 2” website claimed to be run by union members, the CFMEU, ETU and AMWU first attempted to initiate bargaining on a new agreement in October last year, and then again in March 2025. But then apparently the AWU initiated bargaining and attempted to claim sole coverage of workers on the project. It would appear this has escalated to the AWU under the guise of the Offshore Alliance promising unrealistic wage claims in an attempt to win favour on site. Would love to hear from any Pluto 2 workers for their perspectives.
IEU Vic - Strathcona Girls Grammar
Teachers at Strathcona Girls Grammar reached an in-principle agreement with their employer on 5 May, just before a one hour stopwork action was due to commence. Workers had commenced work bans in April, and threatened to escalate industrial action in Term 2 if a better offer wasn’t made. The threat worked. While details of the agreement have not yet been released, the IEU reports workers have won a “significant” wage increase and action on workload.
ANMF/HACSU Tasmania - Tolosa Street Adult Mental Health Service
Following last week’s strike action, Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has confirmed that the government will not continue with the plan to privatise Tolosa Street. If you don’t fight, you lose!
The Services Union/AWU QLD - Noosa City Council
An in-principle agreement has been made between workers and the Noosa City Council ending long-running industrial action and lockouts. Reports claim the deal includes a 14.5% wage increase over 3 years, backdated to the expiry date of the previous agreement. This means a 6.5% increase in February 2025 and then increases of 4% or CPI (whichever is higher) in February 2026 and February 2027. While this is slightly more than the original offer from Noosa City Council of 13.5%, it falls short of the unions’ original claim of 18.5% over 3 years. An AWU spokesperson confirmed that an in-principle agreement had been secured “for a pay deal that fairly reflects the immense contribution of our members and addresses the significant cost-of-living pressures still being felt by workers.” The Services Union has described the agreement as a “positive outcome”.
AMWU/ETU WA - Alstom Metronet
Workers at Alstom Metronet have voted yes to a new agreement. The agreement includes a 16% pay increase over 3.25 years including backpay to 1 January, RDOs, improved allowances and a move to a 38 hour week. While this falls slightly short of the original claim from the union it is significantly better than the first offer from Alstom Metronet.
That’s all I’ve got for you this week. Later this morning, the High Court of Australia will reveal its decision in the case brought by former officials of the CFMEU Michael Ravbar and William Lowth challenging the legitimacy of the amendments made to the Fair Work Act that put the CFMEU into administration. It will be interesting to see what happens in the court, and the effects of the decision (either way) on construction sites across the country. I’ve been reflecting on the line “we won’t win in the courts, what we can’t hold at the gates” - and I worry that the promise of this court case may have slowed down moves to respond industrially to administration. Whatever the verdict, I hope that CFMEU members continue to organise for a stronger union, more democracy, and more rank and file involvement. The same stuff every union member should be fighting for all the time! I am going to take next week off the report to have a little bit of downtime. I will be back here on 2 July with the next Disputes Report.
In solidarity, Sarah