Several high-profile industrial disputes affecting mining, travel and banking have emerged as unions’ influence under the Labor government grows. Workplace disruptions peaked late last year, hitting a nine-year high, and while the days lost have come down, more attention has been given to higher profile disputes.
Yesterday, Qantas and an Australian pilots’ union reached a provisional agreement on a wage deal after the airline’s long-haul pilots voted in favour of industrial action, including 24-hour stoppages and delayed sign-ons.
Then there’s the fight between the Commonwealth Bank and the Finance Sector Union over apps that track workers’ locations in the office. It shows when they are away from their computer while working from home, or how much they participate in Teams meetings.
But perhaps the highest profile fight is in the Pilbara, between BHP and unions representing mine workers. A 24-hour ship-loading ban is due to kick off tonight. The negotiations involve the Electrical Trades Union, the AMWU and the AWU, and the recent strike action is the first in nearly two decades in the region.
The union movement, under the Albanese government, has helped secure more worker-friendly legislation such as Secure Jobs, Better Pay laws and multi-employer bargaining.
AI could add about $100 billion to Australia’s economy in a decades time, and support around 40,000 jobs, according to a new study from EY-Parthenon. And it will change the industries in which jobs are available.
Sector
Employment impact (FTE)
Construction
+9,839
Retail and Wholesale Trade
+9,353
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
+6,126
Financial and Insurance Services
+3,607
Accommodation and Food Services
+2,970
Arts and Recreation Services, Other Services
+2,695
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services
+2,494
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
+2,067
Information Media and Telecommunications
+1,633
Manufacturing
+1,466
Public Administration and Safety
+1,183
Education and Training
+1,037
Health Care and Social Assistance
+916
Gas, Water and Waste Services
+915
Electricity
+656
Oil
0
Gas
-379
Coal
-947
Other Mining
-2,769
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
-2,812
Source: EY Parthenon
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On Amazon's launch of the new Alexa+, and how generative AI has changed the competitive world of digital personal assistants:
“Alexa+ isn't a chatbot and it isn't a large language model. It's actually a true personal assistant. We don't just use one model—we use over seventy. That enables customers to do things in the real world.
We also use many more models behind the scenes to evaluate responses. We create what we call 'LLMs as a judge', which lets us assess accuracy, verbosity and almost any other metric you can imagine at scale. Because we're a global company, every country has different requirements for how Alexa should communicate, so we even have different model configurations for different countries.”
The local sharemarket hit another new high peaking just under 9,300 points in early trading, before closing up half a per cent to 9272 points. It came after more promising signs that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen.
Electric vehicles continued to sell well in July, accounting for 22 per cent of all new car sales during the month. The surge in demand has helped keep vehicle sales high, with 104,656 units sold last month – a record number for July.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson yesterday said Australia doesn’t need any more Uber drivers, nail technicians, or dog walkers to migrate from overseas.
Billionaire James Packer has married former model Kylie Lim, in an intimate ceremony on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Fear-o-meter
Businesses in the bush are facing mounting pressure from rising operating costs, falling profitability and workforce shortages, not helped by government service and infrastructure gaps.
That’s the findings of a survey from the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), with the support of Commonwealth Bank.
Running a business can be very different in regional, rural and remote Australia. While some challenges – housing near workplaces – are common across the country, others like limited access to essential services and finding the right people are exacerbated outside the major cities.
Nearly three-quarters of businesses outside the cities say profit has fallen and only 18 per cent are optimistic it will improve over the next 12 months.
Eighty-seven per cent of businesses that recruited experienced difficulty filling roles, with shortages continuing across skilled trades and specialist occupations.
And not surprisingly, fuel costs are placing significant or critical financial pressure on many businesses.
Forwarded from a friend? Sign up to our daily newsletter
