Industrial disputes & news - 2 July 2025
FRV; Tonwsville City Council; QLD nurses; Bluescope; Epworth; Qantas; Crown Equipment; CDC; Keolis Downer; Grill'd; Glencore; SA doctors; BMS; Peabody; I-MED; CFMEU; Allied Pinnacle; Cleanaway & more
UFU Vic - FRV
In the latest move in the long running dispute between the UFU and Fire Rescue Victoria union members passed a vote of no confidence in FRV leadership. Around 80% of eligible members participated in the vote, with 90% voting that they did not have confidence in the leadership of the agency. Similar votes of no-confidence by ambos and cops last year preceded resignations of Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner and Ambulance Victoria's CEO. The dispute has been dragging on for years at this point I believe, and the legal status of the intractable bargaining process is not clear to me. Any firies or friendly industrial officers able to shed any light on this one - please get in touch!
AWU QLD - Townsville City Council
Workers at Townsville City Council commenced strike action yesterday (1/7). The AWU has told residents to expect disruptions to council services. Council’s current offer amounts to an 11% increase in base rate (5%, 3% and 3% over the three years) with reclassifications for some workers. AWU members are pushing for a 20% pay increase and a ‘ratepayer value committee’ “to divert money away from senior executives and into services”. Meanwhile, Townsville senior executive pay grew 79% last year and the Mayor draws a $225,000 salary whilst suspended because of a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation.
QNMU - Public sector nurses and midwives
The QNMU has accused the state government of “gaslighting” and has said if the government doesn’t agree to their demands by today, industrial action will escalate to Stage 2. After two weeks of intensive negotiations, Queensland Health declared that everything the union thought was already agreed was off the table, which has understandably angered the QNMU and led to them imposing their deadline for a reasonable and serious offer. If no agreement is made, Stage 2 protected industrial action will start on Monday (7/7) which will include “rolling statewide work bans” - potentially including bans on making beds, data entry, going to meetings, cleaning duties, answering phones and restocking supplies. The QNMU are demanding a 13% wage increase over 3 years but the government is not budging on 8% over 3 years.
CFMEU QLD - Qube
Qube crane crews at both the Port of Brisbane and Vestas’ Wambo Wind Farm have voted down the bosses’ proposed EBA, and resumed industrial action.
AMWU/CFMEU/ETU NSW - Bluescope
Workers at Bluescope in Port Kembla commenced industrial action on 14/6. Three unions are involved in the dispute, and it is understood the industrial action has thus far included 1 hour stoppages as well as various work and overtime bans. Workers are fighting for a fair deal, as well as for Bluescope to revert to direct hiring of apprentices, rather than hiring them through Zeal Futures.
ANMF Vic - Epworth
Medical imaging nurses at the Epworth escalated their industrial action last week with 4 hour stoppages last Wednesday (25/6) at Geelong and Richmond. Nurses are fighting for a 4.5% pay increase as well as industry standards wages and conditions - including a $9 lead apron allowance.
AFAP/AIPA/TWU - Qantas
Industrial action on Qantas subsidiary Express Freighters Australia appears imminent with successful protected action ballots from members of AFAP, AIPA and the TWU. “Low level actions” will commence on Friday (4/7) with workers not completing work on days off or before shifts start. Negotiations have been underway for more than 6 months with Qantas refusing to improve their offer. Pilots are fighting for improved wages and conditions.
AMWU Vic - Crown Equipment
Workers from Crown Equipment and their supporters rallied at Bunnings in Box Hill on Monday (30/6) to kick off a 48 hour strike. Bunnings is one of Crown Equipment’s largest customers. Workers are fighting for a fair deal, while the bosses are trying to freeze their allowances. Workers at Crown Equipment sites in Wodonga, Mulgrave and Truganina commenced industrial action in June with bans on overtime and call outs.
ANMF Tasmania - RHH
Nurses in the Department of Medical Imaging at the Royal Hobart Hospital commenced industrial action last Tuesday (24/6). Nurses and their union have been demanding action on unsustainable and unsafe hours as well as understaffing since January, with no action from the government. Nurses have implemented bans on overtime and non-nursing duties as well as taking extra fatigue management breaks when on call.
TWU Vic - CDC
Over 600 bus drivers employed by CDC Victoria held their third 24 hour strike on Tuesday (1/7). Buses in Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura were affected, with only school buses running in Werribee, Altona and Geelong, and no buses running at all in Ballarat. Buses ran less frequently in Oakleigh, Elsternwick, Brighton, Sydenham, Sunshine, Essendon, Glenroy and Mildura. Drivers are striking for improved pay and conditions, and demands around driver safety.
RTBU NSW - Keolis Downer
Bus drivers in Newcastle launched a fresh round of industrial action on Monday (30/6). Drivers will refuse to drive any vehicle with a “persistent warning light” which may cause delays and cancellations. Workers are fighting for a new EBA with a decent pay increase to keep up with the cost of living as well as 72 hours’ notice for shift changes. Drivers previously held a 24 hour strike in April, and several weeks of not turning on Opal card readers. The bus network in Newcastle was also shut down by an HSR in March after a driver received serious threats from a passenger.
UWU - Grill’d
Workers at Grill’d in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia struck for 24 hours on Saturday (28/6). This followed earlier strike action by workers at the Flinders Lane Grill’d outlet in October last year. Workers at Grill’d are fighting back against the company’s long standing business model of hiring workers as trainees, but failing to provide any meaningful training. They are also organising around ending junior wages, decent pay and a fair EBA. I have been advised that Grill’d workers at Flinders Lane in Melbourne will be walking off the job again on Friday evening (4/7) at 5pm. Get along and support them if you can (83 Flinders Lane, Melbourne).
NSWNMA - Westmead Hospital
Nurses at Westmead Hospital held a rally in their own time on 23 June over staff shortages and patient safety. Alarmingly, nurses are managing babies double or triple “parked” due to a lack of staff. The situation sounds quite dire, and nurses were calling on the Health Minister to ensure sufficient funding to properly staff the NICU. Nurses and midwives in NSW are waiting for a decision from the NSW IRC in relation to their “Special Case” for an award variation. This dispute with the state government has been going on for close to a year.
CFMEU/ETU QLD - Cape Flattery Silica Mine
Social posts from both the CFMEU and ETU point to industrial action at the Cape Flattery Silica Mine, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on any details. Cape Flattery is about 2 hours drive north of Cooktown, and has been operating since the late 60s. They produce high quality silica sand which is used in the manufacture of glass.
MEU NSW - Glencore
Workers at Glencore’s Ulan Coal Mine commenced industrial action on 16/6. According to the MEU, underground workers would be starting their shifts with 5 hour stoppages, with other bans and actions taking place both above and underground. Workers are fighting to be listened to in negotiations, for pay increases and for flexibility clauses.
SASMOA - SA Doctors
Members of SASMOA attended a 1 hour stop work meeting last Wednesday (25/6). At the meeting doctors unanimously voted down the SA government’s pay offer of 10% over 3 years and an extra $4050 pay boost for junior doctors. SASMOA is fighting for a 30% pay increase over 3 years. Doctors are threatening a full day strike on 30 July if the government doesn’t put forward a better offer. More stop work meetings will be scheduled across the public health system over the week of 21 July.
CFMEU Vic - BMS
An update on the Concrete Gang radio show on Sunday (29/6) confirmed that the dispute with BMS at the Golden Plains Wind Farm is ongoing. They also reported that there has been a serious injury on site. A rigger’s leg became trapped between the wheel and frame of a trailer, resulting in him being hospitalised. This is the same site where installation technician Jess Patience was crushed to death by a turbine blade last year. Time for BMS to sort out a fair deal and safety on site.
MEU - Peabody
Miners at the Metropolitan Mine near Helensburgh have been locked out since 18 June in retaliation for a one hour stop work action. Workers initially expected to return to work on Thursday 26/6 but Peabody has extended the lockout to 6 July. This dramatic overreach from the mining giant is an obvious attempt to intimidate workers and punish them for exercising their industrial rights. Workers are fighting for 5% annual wage increases as well as $1.50 added to their hourly rate.
HSU/PSA SA - Public sector allied health workers
Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to get to the bottom of what is going on with the proposed SA public sector allied health agreement which is currently being voted on. On one hand the HSU is calling for a yes vote spruiking a 13.5% total wage increase over the life of the agreement; improvements to progression; easier access to 5 weeks annual leave and fixed term contract protections. The PSA is calling for a no vote deeming the wage offer inadequate and that the agreement “removes and waters down a lot of really important workplace rights.” I don’t know enough about the sector or the state; nor have I seen the agreement to be able to shed much light on this. I would love to hear from any affected HSU or PSA members who have a more informed view to share. The ballot opened on Monday (30/6) and will close on Sunday (6/7).
VAHPA - I-MED
Workers at I-MED continue to take industrial action in pursuit of a decent pay increase and the industry standard 5 weeks of annual leave. It is understood that all metro Melbourne I-MED sites stopped work 2-4 hours on 25 June to attend a members’ meeting. On Monday (30/6) workers at Camberwell, Caulfield, Collins Street, East Melbourne, Kew and South Yarra stopped work for 24 hours severely impacting some services. There hasn’t been a lot of media coverage on this dispute, but a new rank and file newsletter, VAHPA Pulse, launched this week aiming to “to re-activate, re-invigorate, find our Union pulse and WIN.” So hopefully VAHPA Pulse will be able to keep us updated on this and other VAHPA disputes.
CFMEU - Administration
On 18 June, the High Court unanimously rejected the case brought by former CFMEU officials challenging the legality of changes to the Fair Work Act that put the union into administration. The next day (19 June), CFMEU members in Queensland marched through the streets and rallied outside the CFMEU Queensland Branch office in Brisbane, demanding the return of their union to democratic control. Despite calls from Administrator Mark Irving for workers to return to work, the protests in Brisbane continued for a second day (20 June). The wildcat action did not continue into the next week, nor did it spread to other states. Last week, former Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke, congratulated himself for putting the union into administration rather than deregistration. Mark Irving and his team busied themselves leaking an audit report from Kordamentha to The Australian. The “confidential” report discovered that the CFMEU has assets! If that’s a crime, maybe Irving can move onto administering some BRW Rich Listers?
UWU - Allied Pinnacle
Workers at Allied Pinnacle have reached an agreement for a new EBA.The new deal includes an 8% wage increase over 2 years as well as an increase to shift loadings for 19% to 25% for working unsociable hours and casual loadings increasing from 21% to 25%. Workers’ original demand had been for 15% over 3 years, and the initial offer from Allied Pinnacle had been 11.25% over 3 years.
TWU QLD - Cleanaway Noosa
Workers at Cleanaway Noosa have voted up a new agreement which includes a pay increase of 9.68%; legal indemnity for drivers; a $2500 end of contract bonus and an additional paid work break. This follows ongoing industrial action and negotiations since February, including 7 days of strike action. Media reports earlier in the year claimed workers were fighting for a 7% pay increase in the first year - I am unsure if that has been realised in this agreement.
That’s all I’ve got this week - and that should be enough! A big round up after a week off. To finish up, I want to share a new piece of mine that was published in Overland. A democratic way forward for the CFMEU is the product of many hours of thinking about corruption, the administration of the CFMEU and what it means (and the great responsibility of) representing workers in a union. My comrade Sam Wallman drew some beautiful illustrations to go along with the piece. I am very grateful to him and to Overland. I’d love to hear your thoughts- on the Overland piece; Disputes Report or any current or emerging disputes. Get in touch!
In solidarity, Sarah