The shadow employment minister, Brendan O’Connor, and the Labor leader, Bill Shorten. The party has chosen to oppose the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP

Penalty rates: Labor says it makes ‘no apology’ for Bill Shorten’s decision to oppose cut

Penalty rates: Labor says it makes ‘no apology’ for Bill Shorten’s decision to oppose cut Gabrielle Chan, The Guardian, Sunday 5 March 2017 The shadow employment minister, Brendan O’Connor, has defended Labor’s decision to step away from the Fair Work Commission’s penalty rate decision as unions meet this week to plan a Work Choices-style campaign…

Professor Quiggin says the National Electricity Market had been a failure since it was established. Flickr: Brian Thompson

Return to public ownership of national electricity grid would reduce costs, says economist

Return to public ownership of national electricity grid would reduce costs, says economist Will Ockenden, www.abc.net.au, Friday 3 March, 2017 A publicly owned electricity grid is the only way to put a cap on costs, keep energy competitive and solve the country’s energy crisis, according to an economics expert. Professor John Quiggin says the creation…

The ABS data show wages shrank by 0.5 per cent in the December quarter, seasonally adjusted. File photo: Giulio Saggin/ABC News

Company profits surge as wages fall

Company profits surge as wages fall Michael Janda, www.abc.net.au, 27 February 2017 Official data show wages going backwards while company profits surged at the end of last year, with mining and construction leading the trend. Bureau of Statistics business indicators data for the December quarter show a massive 20.1 per cent surge in profits over…

Coca-Cola Amatil's Australian division managing director Barry O'Connell speaks to the media. ABC News: Lauren Waldhuter

Coca-Cola Amatil to close Adelaide factory in 2019, boost Queensland production

Coca-Cola Amatil to close Adelaide factory in 2019, boost Queensland production By Sarah Scopelianos and Lauren Waldhuter, ABC,net.au, Wednesday February 22 2017 Coca-Cola workers in Adelaide are in shock after the company announced it would close its South Australian manufacturing facilities in 2019. Workers attended the Thebarton factory at 8:00am for the announcement, after shifts…

ASC Shipbuilding workers marched to the Submarine maintenance site in support of the protest strike action over the Enterprise Bargaining restrictions placed on ASC management negotiators by the Federal Conservative Government

Adelaide ASC workers strike again over stalled pay talks

Adelaide ASC workers strike again over stalled pay talks Adam Langenberg, The Advertiser, February 23, 2017   HUNDREDS of workers at Adelaide shipbuilder ASC have launched industrial action once again over protracted pay negotiations. Union members marched outside ASC’s headquarters in Osborne on Thursday morning in a show of defiance to the Federal Government and…

The South Australian Government owns the ship-building facility Techport. (ABC News: Angelique Johnson)

Techport ship-building facility in Adelaide at centre of funding stoush between Federal, SA Governments

Techport ship-building facility in Adelaide at centre of funding stoush between Federal, SA Governments Andrew Greene, ABC.net.au, Friday 18 February 2017     Australia’s multi-billion-dollar naval ship-building program has become embroiled in a spat over who should pay for the use of Adelaide’s state-of-the-art construction facilities. Over the next few decades the South Australian-owned naval…

The CFMEU worksite safety rally on the steps of Parliament House. Picture: Mike Burton

Workers struggling to improve safety on South Australian construction sites despite deaths

Workers struggling to improve safety on South Australian construction sites despite deaths Aaron Cartledge, The Advertiser,February 17 MASTER Builders Association chief executive officer Ian Markos has obviously not worked on a building site in South Australia lately and encountered a safety breach that might have endangered his life. If he had, he might understand that…