FWC, government face pressure to step in over submarines pay stoush

The taxpayer-owned submarine builder, ASC Pty Ltd, wants to refer a six-month stand-off with its Adelaide workforce to arbitration, as the union warns that its members are willing to engage in rolling stoppages in their campaign for pay parity.

The Albanese government and Defence Department are scrambling to make sure the dispute does not interfere with the navy’s ability to deploy the ageing Collins-class submarines.