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Tom Reid (Media and Communications Adviser)
Ph 0419
153 407 / 07 3210
0313
Email tom.reid@amma.org.au
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2011
20 December 2011
RESOURCE INDUSTRY WELCOMES SHORTEN’S IR REVIEW
On behalf of the Australian resource industry, AMMA Chief
Executive Steve Knott has welcomed the details of the Federal Government’s Fair
Work Act review, saying it presents a ‘great opportunity to ensure Australia
has effective and productive workplace laws’.
Read
more...
16
December 2011
SALIVA-ONLY DRUG TESTS TO GREATLY INCREASE MINE SAFETY RISK
Safe Work Australia and the National Mine Safety
Framework (NMSF) must abandon proposals that would impede mining employers from
administering the onsite drug and alcohol tests that best suit their
enterprises, resource industry employer group AMMA has said.
Read
more...
12
December 2011
RESOURCE INDUSTRY WELCOMES NEW CABINET
The
resource industry’s peak employer group is calling on the new Federal
Government Cabinet to elevate the issues within Australia’s industrial
relations framework to the highest priority.
Read
more...
29 November 2011
ABCC TAKES SENSIBLE APPROACH TO SHAM CONTRACTING
The
Australian Building & Construction Commission’s (ABCC) final report on sham
contracting demonstrates a sound approach to the issues and incorporates key
recommendations put forward by resource industry employer group AMMA.
Read
more…
24 November 2011
ACTU CAMPAIGN ‘DESPERATE ATTEMPT’TO RETAIN STATUS QUO
The ACTU’s
latest calls for changes to the Fair Work Act is a ‘desperate attempt’ to
retain the excessive bargaining powers granted to unions under the current laws
and divert attention away from positive industrial reform, AMMA chief executive
Steve Knott said today.
Read
more...
23 November 2011
ABOLITION OF THE ABCC AN ECONOCMIC DISASTER
The proposed abolition of the Australian Building and
Construction Commission (ABCC) being debated in parliament this morning would
prove a devastating blow to one of Australia’s most critical economic drivers,
the building and construction industry, according to resource industry employer
group AMMA.
Read
more...
9
November 2011
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN RESOURCES ALLIANCE (AWRA) LAUNCHED
An elaborate industry initiative working to increase
female participation in the resources workforce has been launched at the AMMA
West Coast Conference today.
Read
more...
8
November 2011
AMMA’S POSITION ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS REVIEW
This morning the Federal Government Minister for
Workplace Relations Chris Evans was quoted in the media calling for a review
into the nation’s workplace bargaining rules and powers of the Fair Work Act.
Read
more…
8
November 2011
COMMON SENSE PREVAILS IN
FAIR WORK DECISION
Fair Work Australia’s appeal decision to not recognise a
union official as an individual bargaining representative is a rare victory for
common sense and employers in every sector of the national economy.
Read
more...
4
November 2011
ECONOMY WINS IN 457 VISA
SPONSORSHIP REFORMS
A
significant revision to the 457 Visa program is a major win for Australian
workplaces, with businesses granted more efficiencies around the sponsored
skilled migration scheme including faster processing times, according to
resource industry employer group AMMA.
Read
more...
19
October 2011
SOARING
LABOUR SHORTAGE THREATENS TO CRIPPLE RESOURCE PROJECTS
As recent labour market research shows Australia’s $427
billion worth of resource projects will struggle to survive the crippling
labour and skills shortage, resource industry employer group AMMA says only a united
front from all tiers of government can alleviate the imminent threat to many
prospective workplaces.
Read
more...
14
October 2011
‘TRANSPARENCY AND
INCLUSIVENESS’ KEY TO RESTORING FAITH IN FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA
A stream of ex-union appointments to the Fair Work Act
Tribunal and broken policy promises has eroded employers’ confidence in
Australia’s industrial umpire, according to resource industry employer group AMMA
Chief Executive, Steve Knott.
Read
more...
6
October 2011
MINERS
LAUNCH OWN JOBS CENTRE AS LABOUR DEMAND SPIRALS
Ahead of
the Federal Government’s national jobs forum, resource industry employer group
AMMA has activated Australia’s first industry-operated online jobs and careers
portal, miningoilandgasjobs.com,
to connect Australians with job opportunities in the mining boom.
Read
more…
19
September 2011
INDUSTRY
PARTNERSHIP TO ADDRESS CRITICAL MINING SKILLS SHORTAGE
Resource
industry employer group AMMA has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement
of several Critical Skills Investment industry partnerships designed to ease
critical skills shortages on resource projects.
Read
more...
08
September 2011
MINING
CRITICS SHOULD ADDRESS THE HARD FACTS
An
Australia Institute report downplaying the importance of the mining sector to
the national economy is riddled with errors and flies in the face of
commonsense and known facts, according to resource industry employer group
AMMA.
Read
more...
06
September 2011
TSUNAMI
OF CONSENSUS BUILDING FOR IR CHANGE
Resource
Industry Employer Group AMMA has been joined by other leading employer groups
in calling for much-needed reforms to Australia’s IR laws, confirming these
problems are widespread and far deeper than is being acknowledged by the
Federal Government.
Read
more...
02
September 2011
REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT KEY FACTOR IN FIFO DEBATE
Stronger policy
decisions to support and co-ordinate regional development could ease community
concerns around ‘fly-in, fly-out’ (FIFO) workforces, according to resource
industry employer group AMMA.
Read
more...
19
July 2011
RESOURCE
INDUSTRY EMPLOYERS’ MIGRATION ISSUES TO BE AIRED
The
concerns of resource industry employers over access to the skilled migration
scheme will be put to both sides of politics at an industry forum in Perth
later today.
Read
more...
30
June 2011
CRITICAL SKILLS TRAINING + WOMEN + EMAS = REDUCTION IN SKILLS
SHORTAGE FOR MINERS
Resource industry employer group, AMMA, has
recommended the triple combination of allowing more miners to access enterprise
migration agreements, increasing critical skills training for Australians, and
actively targeting more women for resource industry jobs as part of the
solution to alleviate the skills shortage in the industry.
Read
more…
30
June 2011
FAIR
FOR WHO? RHETORIC -V- REALITY OF THE FAIR WORK ACT
With July
1 marking the second anniversary of the full introduction of the Federal
Government’s Fair Work Act [FW Act], the confidence of resource industry
employers in the new IR system is in a state of continuous decline.
Read
more...
24
June 2011
DO YOU WANT
"FRIES" ERR "FEES" WITH THAT?
Resource industry employer group, AMMA, today
warned the nine out of ten private sector workers who choose not to belong to a
union, now face the prospect of being forced to share their meal break with
union officials as a consequence of a decision handed down on union access to
meal rooms by Fair Work Australia.
Read
more…
01
June 2011
DECISION CLEARS WAY FOR
MINORITY TO MAKE MAXIMUM DISRUPTION
Resource
industry employer group AMMA today expressed disappointment at a decision handed down today by Fair
Work Australia.
Read
more…
27
May 2011
RESOURCE INDUSTRY TAKING
INDIGENOUS CAPACITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL
A meeting
of resource industry employers on the Gold Coast today will be challenged to
consider investing in privately operated schools where Government run schools
are failing to produce the required results in rural and remote locations.
Read
more…
26
May 2011
GOVERNMENT URGED TO
CONSIDER POLICY FOR SUPER SAVERS, NOT SUPER SPENDERS
With wage
levels in the nation’s resource industry currently nearly double the national
average, the Federal Government finds itself in the unique position of having
both resource industry employers and unions considering the merits of making
policy changes to allow greater savings by workers in the industry.
Read
more…
26
May 2011
RESOURCE EMPLOYERS
SHOULD NOT LOSE SIGHT OF PRODUCTIVITY GOALS
A senior resource industry leader today
warned in a meeting of the sector’s employers not to lose sight of the
importance of productivity in their labour arrangements.
Read
more…
26
May 2011
RESOURCE INDUSTRY
EMPLOYERS SEEK FACTS ON “BIG AUSTRALIA” DEBATE
Noted
demographer and social commentator, Bernard Salt, will be addressing a meeting
of resource industry employers on the Gold Coast today to discuss the issue of
“a big Australia”.
Read
more…
26
May 2011
NO PORTS AFFECT IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
At a time
when the national economy is reliant on the resource industry to underpin
growth and key assumptions of the Federal Budget, resource industry employer
group AMMA, is encouraging the Government and Fair Work Australia to take into
consideration the substantial economic impacts of a series of rolling
industrial disruptions affecting the nation’s waterfront.
Read
more…
24
May 2011
UNION AND INDUSTRY LEADERS
DEBATE FAIR WORK LAWS
Resource industry company executives and
leading union movement figures will meet on the Gold Coast this week to debate
and discuss their views on a range of issues including the country’s workplace
laws, skilled migration and employment.
Read
more…
24
May 2011
FAIR
WORK FLAWS SEE MUA RE-CYCLE DAMAGING INDUSTRIAL TACTICS
Resource
industry employers today expressed their concerns over the outbreak of
industrial action occurring on the nation’s waterfront.
Read
more...
11
May 2011
RESOURCE EMPLOYERS SAY
SKILLED MIGRANTS VALUED, NOT SECOND-CLASS
Resource industry employers are urging the
Federal Labor Government to stand firm in the face of demands from both The
Greens and the union movement opposed to increasing the level of skilled
migration announced in the Federal Budget last night.
Read
more…
18
April 2011
SHAM CONTRACTING POWERS
SHOULD BE USED WISELY, SAYS AMMA
With the Australian Building &
Construction Commission’s round table discussions as part of its inquiry into
sham contracting coming to an end, the industry regulator should be wary of
recommending extra compliance burdens be placed on already heavily regulated
businesses unless there is evidence it is warranted.
Read
more…
AMMA’s
Submission to the ABCC inquiry: Sham arrangements and the use of labour hire in
the building and construction industry – read
more…
15
April 2011
RESOURCE EMPLOYERS CALL
FOR ALL HANDS ON DECK
Recent confirmation the Federal Government is
considering the announcement of a significant reform package to the skilled
migration scheme in the forthcoming Federal Budget has been keenly welcomed by
resource industry employers across the nation.
Read
more…
29
March 2011
WEST AUSTRALIAN RESOURCE
EMPLOYERS TARGET MIGRATION LAWS
Resource industry employers are meeting in
Perth today to discuss workplace policy and skills issues affecting the
industry.
Read
more…
29
March 2011
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN
RESOURCE INDUSTRY EMPLOYERS TO DISCUSS IR CHALLENGES
Resource industry employers are meeting in
Adelaide today to discuss the Federal Government’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme
and a number of recent Fair Work Australia and Federal Court decisions.
Read
more…
25
March 2011
TASMANIAN RESOURCE EMPLOYERS
RAISE SKILLS SHORTAGE CONCERNS
Resource industry employers are meeting in
Queenstown today to discuss workplace policy and skills issues affecting the
industry.
Read
more…
23
March 2011
QUEENSLAND RESOURCE EMPLOYERS CALL FOR SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO
OVERSEAS WORKER PROCESSING AND IR LAWS
Resource industry employers met yesterday in
Brisbane to discuss workforce issues emerging across the industry in the face
of Queensland’s disaster recovery effort.
Read
more…
18
March 2011
NORTH QUEENSLAND RESOURCE EMPLOYERS CALL FOR SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
TO OVERSEAS WORKER PROCESSING AND IR LAWS
North
Queensland resource industry employers are meeting in Townsville today to
discuss recent workforce issues emerging across the industry in the face of
Queensland’s disaster recovery effort.
Read
more…
15
March 2011
SKILLS STRATEGY CRITICAL
TO FUTURE GROWTH OF RESOURCE INDUSTRY
Today’s
release of the Federal Government’s response to the National Resources Sector
Employment Taskforce Paper, ‘Resourcing the Future’, has been welcomed
by resource industry employer group AMMA.
Read
more…
9
March 2011
AMMA APPEALS FWA ‘STRIKE
FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER’ DECISION
Resource
industry employer group AMMA, has today lodged an appeal in an ongoing dispute
about a decision that has allowed a union to pursue strike activity at a
worksite, despite not having the majority support of workers.
Read
more...
3
February 2011
RESOURCE EMPLOYERS RECORD ESCALATION IN UNION ENTRY
Over fifty
per cent of Australian resource industry employers have recorded increased
concerns over union entry requests into their businesses according to a recent
business survey.
Read
more...
2
February 2011
CONFIDENCE IN FAIR WORK
ACT FALLS FOR RESOURCE EMPLOYERS
The
workplace relations environment facing Australia’s resource industry has become
substantially more difficult according to a recent survey of employers.
Read
more...
7
January 2011
RESOURCE INDUSTRY
EMPLOYERS CALL FOR KEY CHANGES TO 457 VISA SYSTEM
The nation’s resource industry employers are
today calling for key changes to the 457 temporary skilled migration visa
system in a submission to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
Read
more…
2010
23 December
2010
FAIR
WORK ACT IN NEED OF URGENT OVERHAUL
In the wake of a Full Bench majority decision
handed down by Fair Work Australia today (December 23), resource industry
employer group, AMMA has called on the Federal Government to urgently review
its federal IR legislation to avert the ‘strike first, commence bargaining
later’ approach the tribunal has endorsed.
Read
more…
7 December
2010
FAIR
WORK LAWS EXPOSE RESOURCE SECTOR TO INCREASED STRIKE ACTIVITY
Resource
Industry Employer Group, AMMA has today intervened in an appeal before Fair
Work Australia in a case which has the potential to expose the sector to significant
levels of increased strike activity in the coming months.
Read
more…
22 November
2010
EMPLOYERS
WELCOME PROPOSED PARENTAL LEAVE OVERHAUL
Amendments
being introduced into the Senate today, which overcome unnecessary costs for
business as a consequence of the introduction of the Federal Government’s paid
parental leave (PPL) scheme, have won support from resource industry employers.
Read
more …
29 October
2010
TAKING
THE FIGHT AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER DOWN THE MINES: AMMA
Peak
resource industry employer group, AMMA is today playing its part in launching
an innovative campaign to take the message about prostate cancer directly to
workers across the resource industry.
Read
more …
28 October
2010
STALEMATE
TALKS AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE SAFETY BILL: AMMA
While the
stalemate between the NSW State Government and Federal Government continues
over new national Work Health and Safety laws, resource industry employers are
exploring some more controversial aspects of the proposed legislation with a
view to calling for key changes.
Read
more …
22 October
2010
RESOURCE
INDUSTRY FORUM PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT
Australia’s
first Indigenous Member of the House of Representatives, Mr Ken Wyatt MP, will
address resource industry employers in Perth today who are meeting to discuss
the latest strategies used, and trends experienced in, both training and
securing the employment of indigenous Australians.
Read
more …
6 October 2010
EMPLOYERS
WARNED: PREPARE FOR PARENTAL LEAVE NOW
A meeting
of human resource professionals in Brisbane will today be told they need to be
prepared for elements the new paid parental leave scheme to come into play as
early as this month.
Read
more …
29 September
2010
esource industry employers have
welcomed the appointment of a new Commissioner to head the ABCC [Australian
Building and Construction Commission], following the official end to
Commissioner John Lloyd’s five-year tenure as head of the building industry
watchdog.
Read
more …
22 September
2010
Resource
industry employer group, AMMA, has given its qualified support to Minister
Ferguson’s calls for increased superannuation contributions, saying the concept
has merit in certain areas within the resources industry.
Read
more …
11 August 2010
Despite the fact all
political parties have tried to make their Industrial Relations policies a
small target this election, the resource industry employer group AMMA has today
released a comparison of their policies. AMMA has released an Industrial
Relations Policy Scorecard, which rates the latest industrial relations
policies of all three major political parties Labor, the Coalition and the
Greens. The Coalition received the highest score, a total of 18 out of a
possible 28, followed by Labor with 17 and the Greens with a dismal score of 8.
Read
more …
22 July 2010
One year since the Fair
Work Act came into operation and some significant shortcomings of the current
workplace relations regime are set to be discussed at a forum of resource
industry employers in Melbourne this morning. The Australian Mines and Metals
Association (AMMA) will host a meeting of Victoria’s leading resource and
construction employers to discuss some of the latest issues confronting the
sector under the Fair Work Act.
Read
more…
21 July 2010
The interim
results of an AMMA/RMIT study into the impacts of Fair Work laws on the
resource and construction sectors discussed at an Adelaide forum today have
highlighted the need for an urgent review of the laws. One year on after the
Fair Work Act came into full operation and resource industry employers are reporting
a significant increase in the number of union-specific terms and conditions
being added to the agreement making process.
Steve Knott, Chief Executive on the nation’s
largest resource industry employers group, AMMA, said a recent survey of
employers across the sector had found that of those employers who had commenced
new agreement negotiations, 77.3 per cent had recorded unions pursuing clauses
that
were
prohibited under the previous workplace laws.
Read
more…
One year since
the Fair Work Act came into operation and some significant shortcomings of Labor’s
new workplace relations regime are set to be discussed at a forum of resource
industry employers in Perth this morning. Chief Executive of the nation’s
largest resource industry employers group, AMMA, Mr Steve Knott, said a recent
survey of employers in the sector had raised significant concerns over the
ability of employers to get Greenfield agreements off the ground for major
projects under the new Fair Work regime. “At present the Fair Work Act does not
provide any alternative for an employer to create a Greenfield Agreements where
unions are holding up new projects.
Read
more…
28 June 2010
With the
elevation of Julia Gillard to the nation’s top job, the resource sector’s
national employer group, AMMA has welcomed the appointment of Simon Crean as
Federal Workplace Relations Minister.
Read
more…
27 May 2010
Australia’s
leading resource industry employer group, AMMA, said it was disappointed to
hear the Deputy Prime Minister would not be reappointing Australian Building
and Construction Commissioner [ABCC], John Lloyd, to the role of ABCC
Commissioner in September. AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said Mr Lloyd’s
departure from the role of Commissioner would be a significant blow to the
building and construction industry.
Read
more…
21 May 2010
The
male-dominated resources sector is being encouraged to be more proactive in
tackling the issue of prostate cancer - with a leading national industry
association joining with the Prostate Cancer Foundation this week to encourage
the delivery of this message to mine sites across the country.
The Australian
Mines and Metals Association [AMMA] announced their ongoing support and
partnership with the Foundation at a Conference in Perth this week. AMMA Chief
Executive, Steve Knott, said the initiative was designed to not only help raise
awareness of the issue, but also help fund vital research into the disease.
Read
more…
20 May 2010
The newly
elected head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Ged Kearney, shall be
attending a meeting of resource sector employers in Perth today. Australia
Mines and Metals Association [AMMA] Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said he hoped
the meeting with Ms Kearney would be a constructive first-step in relations
with the President-elect of the ACTU.
Read
more…
20 May 2010
Resources
sector employers from across the nation have today called on both sides of the
political divide to modernize the nation’s existing workplace laws to better
reflect the needs of the sector.
Read
more…
30 April 2010
The mining
industry leads the way in ensuring their employees have access to paid leave
according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics report. AMMA Chief
Executive, Steve Knott, said the increase in the number of workers in the
resources sector with paid leave entitlements was a consequence of employers
within the sector taking every possible step to both recruit and retain their
highly valued employees.
Read
more…
31 March 2010
Steve Knott, Chief Executive of the country’s
peak employer group for the resource and energy sector, the Australian Mines
and Metals Association (AMMA) said it was encouraging to see the Deputy Prime
Minister respond to growing industry concerns about the escalation in
disruptive strike activity being experienced in recent months.
Read
more…
23 February
2010
The
Industrial Relations policies the Federal Government and Opposition plan to
take to the next Federal election should be released now according to the
nation's resources and energy sectors leading employer organisation. Chief
Executive of the Australian Mines and Metals Association, Steve Knott, has today called on both the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and Opposition Leader,
Tony Abbott, to engage in debate and discussion with the Australian public over
the future direction of issues in Australian workplaces.
Read
more…
19 February
2010
Today's revelation that Mr Yoshifumi
Nakata, Nippon Steel's Australian boss, had said he was "afraid and very
concerned" about the escalation of industrial action in Australia's
resource and energy sector has been described as a "sobering wake up call"
by the sectors leading employer organisation … Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said it was imperative the Government heed this wake up call and review the
legislative framework so as to ensure sufficient measures were in place to stop
damaging industrial and union activity that was not in the national interest.
Read
more…
8 February
2010
The resources and energy sector’s peak
employer body, AMMA, today welcomed moves to focus on attracting more highly
skilled workers into Australia.
AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said there was currently a shortfall of skilled professional staff, mechanical and
electrical engineering personnel, as well as a shortage of other skilled trades
in the resource and energy sector.
Read
more…
2 February
2010
The
so called 'agreement' in settlement of a three month dispute between the MUA
and vessel operators in Australia's offshore oil and gas sector has created a
worrying precedent according to AMMA, the national employers' organisation for
the resources and energy sector.
Read
more…
27 January 2010
Comments
made today by MUA Assistant National Secretary, Warren Smith, about the status
of negotiations between the MUA and vessel operator Total Marine Services have
been described as "a fabrication" by AMMA. AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said Mr Smith's allegations that the company had walked away from a pre-agreed
position was patently false, and that Mr Smith was clearly fabricating the
truth in an attempt to further damage relations between the company and its
employees.
Read
more…
27 January 2010
It
has been confirmed today the MUA will now be taking a further forty eight hours
of strike activity against a vessel operator in the offshore oil and gas sector
from Monday – in addition to a 48 hour round of strike activity due to commence
this coming Friday. AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott said vessel operators in
the oil and gas sector have been negotiating in good faith for over fourteen
months now.
Read
more…
8 January 2010
While a range of Federal
Cabinet Minister’s appear to be tripping over themselves to get their hands on
the latest literary offering of the Prime Minister, entitled Jasper and Abby
and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle, one of the nation’s peak resource and
energy sector employer organisations is urging they read a far more weighty
document.
Read
more…
7 January 2010
A decision by the MUA to
proceed with a further round of disruptive strike activity in the oil and gas
sector has highlighted the failings of the Federal Government's "Fair
Work" regime in it's very first week of full operation according to a peak
resource sector employer organisation.
Read
more…
2009
18 December 2009
The Deputy Prime Minister has been called on
to intervene in an ongoing industrial dispute over a claim for up to 100% pay
rise between a range of Australian vessel operators and the Maritime Union of
Australia.
Read
more…
4 December 2009
Australia’s peak mining and resources employer body, AMMA, has
revealed today union bosses in charge of the MUA are now recklessly forcing
workers to go out on strike against more employers involved in the offshore oil
and gas industry in Western Australia …AMMA Chief Executive Steve Knott said the latest strike activity, set to shut down offshore vessel operations for 48
hours at Total Marine Services from Friday, was a worrying development that had
the potential to threaten the livelihoods of thousands of other hard working
Australians and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Read
more…
27 November 2009
The
Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has been accused of hypocrisy by the peak
resources and energy association, AMMA following confirmation the MUA is now
proceeding with a further round of strike action against a company operating in
the offshore oil and gas sector this coming weekend.
Read
more…
19 November 2009
AMMA urges politicians of all political
persuasions to sit down and ‘strike a deal’ on a final range of amendments
needed to see the passage of legislation which would create a single national
industrial relations scheme. AMMA’s Chief Executive Steve Knott said employers
had been waiting for nearly a decade to see the passage of legislation which
would eliminate artificial barriers between the states when it came to
employment issues.
Read
more…
17 November 2009
An urgent
meeting of Fair Work Australia organised to head-off two days of potential
strike action in the oil and gas sector has concluded with the MUA still intent
on taking action for two days commencing on Tuesday - after nearly a decade of
industrial harmony … AMMA Chief Executive, Steve Knott, described the MUA’s
reluctance to take a sensible approach to negotiations “an immense
disappointment to the company and a worrying precedent to the industry and the
economy”.
Read
more,,,
13 November 2009
The peak
national employer body representing Australia’s resources and energy sector,
the Australian
Mines and
Metals Association (AMMA) has accused the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) of
reckless
and
destructive conduct following confirmation that it will take strike action in
the offshore oil and gas
sector.
Read
more...
15 September 2009
A recent
union advertising campaign opposing Australia’s move towards adopting
a uniform
set of national occupational health and safety laws has drawn criticism
from the
Australian Mines and Metals Association.
AMMA
Chief Executive, Steve Knott, said the union sponsored radio campaign
was a
clear attempt to only delay the much needed reform but also point the
finger of
blame at the feet of employers.
Read
more…
31 August 2009
AMMA’s chief executive Steve Knott has raised
significant concerns about changes to the building regulator laws and watering
down of the accompanying code at a time when the sector is managing billion
dollar construction projects.
Read
more…
1 July 2009
AMMA’s chief executive Steve Knott says that
the new Fair Work Australia regime should not be exploited by overzealous union
activities which attempted to test out the new laws and test the powers of what
unions can now get away with.
Read
more…
18 June 2009
AMMA
has commended DPM Julia Gillard as being ‘a considered and driving force behind
the much needed award modernisation process’.
‘The
DPM gave AMMA and its members a pre-election commitment that our systems of
work would not be altered via the award modernization process, and the Minister
has honoured this commitment.'
Read
more…
17 June 2009
Proposed changes to
Australia’s building industry watchdog, tabled in Parliament today, will
replace the existing industry watchdog with a Milli Vanilli version according
to the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA).
AMMA CEO Steve Knott said the recent public argy-bargy being played out between the Rudd Government and
the union movement had cleverly diverted attention away from the fact that the
effectiveness and powers of the current building watchdog are to be
significantly watered down.
Read
more…
3 April 2009
AMMA's Chief
Executive Steve Knott has warned that the recommendations handed down today in
the long-awaited Wilcox Report will make a mockery out of the Rudd Government's
pledge to keep a 'tough cop on the beat'.
Read
more…
20 March 2009
The resources sector has slammed Australia’s new industrial
relations system, describing it as the greatest increase in union power since
Federation.
According to the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA),
which represents Australia’s blue chip mining, oil and gas companies, the new
system is more about resuscitating an ailing union movement than saving jobs.
Read
more…
13 March 2009
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), the national
employers’ organisation for the resources sector, says that yesterday’s rising
jobless statistics confirms that domestic policy responses must be urgently
reassessed to take cost pressures off business.
Read
more…
10 March 2009
The peak national industry body representing Australia’s resources
sector, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), has welcomed the
Opposition’s decision to oppose various union power grabs proposed by the
Government; powers that were not part of the ALP’s pre-election policy.
AMMA Chief Executive Steve Knott said the extraordinary increase
in union powers buried away in the Fair Work Bill was rightly being challenged
by the Opposition and various non-government Senators.
Read
more…
14 January
2009
The peak
national employer body representing Australia’s resources sector, the
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has today recommended to the
Senate a series of amendments to the Fair Work Bill that will address the
sector’s concerns in relation to excessive union powers and the new bargaining
framework, yet ensure Australian workers continue to have access to a proper
safety net.
Read
more…
2008
19 December
2008
The peak
national employer body representing Australia’s resources sector, the
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has welcomed today’s release by
the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) of the modern mining
industry award.
“Putting to
one side our ongoing concerns about many aspects of the proposed Fair Work
legislation, the mining industry modern award may indeed be a workable
alternative to an AWA, albeit without protection from industrial action or
entry to worksites from uninvited unions,” said AMMA Chief Executive Steve Knott.
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10 December
2008
The peak national employer body representing Australia’s resources
sector, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has slammed the
Government’s new IR system at a meeting of hundreds of Western Australian
mining companies in Perth earlier today.
‘The Fair Work Bill introduced today is more about resuscitating
an ailing union movement, not improving business conditions and job prospects
for ordinary Australians’, said AMMA’s Chief Executive, Steve Knott.
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14 November
2008
In an address to the ALLA Conference in Melbourne today,
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has acknowledged AMMA's role in convincing
her to abandon the idea of including a sunset date for old agreements in the
new workplace relations legislation to be introduced into Parliament in
December.
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more…
10 November
2008
The
Safe Work Australia Bill 2008 will again be subject to Senate
parliamentary review this week.
As
with industrial relations legislation, removing OHS duplication and overlap and
various inconsistencies between states remains vitally important.
‘Harmonisation
of national OHS legislation will improve OHS outcomes in Australia, reduce the
regulatory burden for business and enhance Australia’s productivity
performance’, Mr Knott Chief Executive of the Australian Mines and Metals
Association (AMMA) said today.
AMMA
calls on the Senate to pass by the Safe Work Bill 2008 without further
delay.
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more…
30 October
2008
In
response to recent media speculation about Labor’s new IR system, Australia’s
mining,
oil and gas industry has described any move by the Government towards the
unilateral
termination of existing industrial agreements in workplaces as the
equivalent
of a ‘dirty bomb’.
‘The
unilateral termination of all existing agreements would force employers to
bargain
all over again to retain existing flexibilities, and conversely could result in
employees
falling back to minimum award wages well below previously agreed
rates’
said AMMA’s Director of Workplace Policy, Chris Platt.
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16 October
2008
‘The
pantomime being played out by unions, ALP branches and Government backbenchers
calling for the immediate scrapping of the ABCC is damaging investment
confidence. The Government should bring this to an end now by confirming the
ABCC will remain until 1 February 2010, but more importantly, it should advise
that the existing powers and functions of the ABCC will be incorporated into
the soon to be created specialist division of Fair Work Australia for a minimum
of five years’, Mr Steve Knott, Chief Executive of the Australian Mines and
Metals Association (AMMA) said today.
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more…
20 June 2008
The Australian Industrial Relations Commission’s (the Commission) decision
to include mining on the priority list of industries for award modernisation
has been welcomed by Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA).
‘The decision of the Commission recognises the significance of the
resources sector to the Australian economy and will assist the industry to make
an orderly transition to the new industrial relations system that will commence
in January 2010’, Mr Steve Knott, Chief Executive of AMMA said today.
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more…
13 February
2008
The Government’s
Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward Fairness) Bill 2008 introduced by
Deputy Prime Minister Gillard today reflects policy statements made by the ALP
prior to 24 November 2007 federal election.
‘The Bill contains no surprises. Despite abolishing new AWAs, the
resources sector is pleased that the Government has not succumbed to the
demands of some unions to make more radical changes’, Mr Steve Knott Chief
Executive of Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) said today.
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more …
2007
21 November 2007
The federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Joe
Hockey, has presented the Australian Mines and Metals Association with an award
as a Workplace Innovator for services to the resources sector and promotion of
innovative agreement making through employee engagement. Chief Executive Steve Knott accepted the award on behalf of AMMA.
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more …
7 November 2007
The Australian Mines and Metals Association has welcomed the workplace
relations policy proposals announced today by Workplace Relations Minister Joe
Hockey. In particular AMMA welcomes the proposal to retain the full range of
agreement making options for employers and employees and provide employers with
protections against wild cat and illegal industrial action organised by union
militants.
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more …
8 October 2007
The Australian Mines and Metals Association re-examines its analysis of
the ALP industrial relations policy in the light of the policy additions
contained in the party’s Forward
with Fairness Implementation Plan and finds that the ALP policy still comes up short in
several key areas.
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more …
17 September 2007
The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA)
has today released a study of employee engagement within the resource sector
titled Employee Engagement – A lifetime of opportunity. The report advocates
the retention of the existing industrial relations framework (and in particular
AWAs) and encourages employers to work with their employees to improve
engagement levels and business outcomes.
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more…..
29 August 2007
Labor’s
Industrial relations plans released yesterday will give unions access to all
Australian worksites to recruit non-union members.
Australian
Mines and Metals Association Chief Executive Steve Knott stated ‘If you abolish
AWAs the existing union right of entry system that excludes unions from right
of entry to AWA sites goes out the window.
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more…..
28 August 2007
Today’s IR
announcement from the ALP still represents an anti business, transition to the
past approach to industrial relations.
AMMA Chief
Executive, Steve Knott today stated “It is not in the national interest to
abolish the current workplace relations system to one that belongs to a bygone
era.”
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more…..
25 July 2007
The Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) today welcomed the release of a study
commissioned by the Australian Building and Construction Commission into the
economic impact of the ABCC’s role in the construction industry. AMMA
particularly welcomed the report’s finding that the BCII and the ABCC framework
could not operate effectively in the absence of the Workplace Relations
Amendment (WorkChoices) Act 2005.
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more …
11 July 2007
With the
prospect of a significant change to the workplace relations environment due to
the upcoming federal election, Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA)
has undertaken a detailed analysis of the workplace relations policies of the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Coalition. This document is called An
Analysis of Coalition and ALP Workplace Relations Policies and applies a
rating between zero and four to each workplace relations policy position of the
ALP and the Coalition. The lower the score the less the policy meets the needs
of the resources sector.
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more…..
5 July 2007
In its bid to
deny Australian mining sector employers and employees the right to enter into
statutory individual contracts the ALP seeks to justify its position by pointing
to outdated and unreliable statistics about the number of mining AWAs.
The Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) believes that in the debate over AWAs in
the mining industry, the ALP continues to miss the point.
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more
2 July 2007
The
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), Australia’s only national
employer association serving the resource sector and allied industries, today released a
research paper titled Constructing Lawful Workplaces. The paper highlights that
Australia’s reduced rates of industrial action are due to long term industrial changes which
have made parties responsible for their actions.
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More…..
5 June 2007
‘Sharan
Burrow’s attempt to impugn Australia’s international business reputation
for
political purposes is reprehensible’ Mr. Steve Knott Chief Executive of
Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) said today.
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more….
15 May 2007
In the
fight to restore privileges to union bosses, Greg Combet (ACTU Secretary - ALP
Candidate) has today accused the resources industry of
undermining worker collective bargaining and union membership rights.
'Nothing could be further from the truth, Mr Combet’s comments are just plain
wrong', Mr Steve Knott, Chief Executive of Australian Mines and Metals
Association (AMMA), said today.
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more…..
24 April 2007
The Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has today released the AMMA Workplace
Relations Policy Scorecard, which uses criteria divided into seven broad policy
areas to ‘score’ how well the workplace relations policies of the differing
parties vying for government in the upcoming federal election meet the needs
and expectations of the resources sector.
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more……
3 April 2007
The Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) believes the Australian Bureau of
Statistics report released today (Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade
Union Membership (August 2006)) highlights the need for Australia to have a
modern industrial relations system that contains a full range of agreement
making options, this includes collective non union agreements and AWAs.
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more……
30 March 2007
AMMA,
Australia’s national resource sector employer association, has released a paper
delivered to the Industrial Relations Society of Australia’s 2007 National
Conference by AMMA’s General Manager Workplace Policy, Christopher Platt,
reiterating the resources sector’s call for the ALP Industrial Relation policy
to provide a complete range of agreement making options including statutory
individual contracts.
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more……
22 March 2007
AMMA,
Australia’s national resource sector employer association, has today released a
review of Australian Workplace Agreements in the resources sector aptly titled,
“AWAs – A Major Matter for Miners”. The paper was been released at AMMA’s 2007
National Conference, being held at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre on 22
and 23 March.
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more……
22 March 2007
The 2007 AMMA
National Conference is being held at the Perth Exhibition Convention Centre on
22 and 23 March and will undoubtedly be this year’s most important event for
employee relations within Australia’s resources sector.
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more…
2006
29 June 2006
‘The comment
by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley on the ABC’s AM program this morning that AWAs
can easily be replaced by common law contracts is wrong’, Mr Steve Knott, Chief Executive of Australian Mines and Metals Association, said today.
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more…
22 June 2006
Australia’s
national employer association for the resource and allied industries, the
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has called on the federal ALP to
rethink their opposition to Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).
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22 June 2006
The
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), Australia’s key national
employer representative in the resources and allied industries believes the
Independent Contractors Legislation introduced to parliament today is a key
step forward in the protection of the rights of contractors in the workforce.
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more…
29 May 2006
Recent media
comments by the ALP and various union representatives claiming that Australia’s
new workplace laws will compromise the Occupational Health and Safety
(OH&S) of employees in the mining industry and other industry sectors are
untrue.
“Such comments
are an unnecessary political distraction from the main focus of improving
Australia’s OH&S performance,” Mr Steve Knott, Chief Executive Australian
Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) said today.
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more…