Qantas and long-haul pilots reach accord; Gillard on Telstra bargaining; Spicer Axle workers' pay rises tied to CPI; and 4% pay rise for paint workers.
The MEAA will seek authorisation from members at Fairfax Media to initiate a bargaining period, as it prepares for possible industrial action after reaching a bargaining stalemate over the company's plan to require about 300 senior journalists and photographers to individually bargain for their pay.
Some 500 journalists employed by about 200 country newspapers across Australia will be entitled to six weeks paid maternity leave, under an agreement variation and extension approved by the AIRC yesterday. Media unions are also seeking increases in paid parental leave in bargaining with the Special Broadcasting Service.
DHL Exel Supply Chain must pay the TWU $43,000 in fines for inducing employees at its Matraville site in Sydney to leave the union and unlawfully approve an agreement with the NUW, after a Federal Magistrates Court ruling.
AIRC publishes interim guide to drafting modern awards; CFMEU WA's Reynolds fails in bid to stop challenger from using lists; Coroner says unwarranted dismissal caused worker's suicide; and Overtime workers more depressed and anxious, according to health study.
Bargaining to replace Telstra's main enterprise agreement is at an impasse, with the telco refusing to sign a side deed proposed by the ACTU, saying it would contravene the national construction code and prevent it tendering to build the $4.7 billion National Broadband Network.
A retailer that strictly enforced a "Dickensian" policy requiring employees at two Tasmanian stores to work unpaid for 15 to 30 minutes before and after their shifts has been ordered to pay almost $53,000 in penalties.
Patrick and the MUA last week secured an extension of their enterprise agreement until October 2010, taking advantage of the fast approval process offered under the agreement variation and extension provisions of the Rudd Government's transitional IR legislation.
The AIRC will on Thursday begin hearing Railcorp's bid to end the bargaining period with five unions, if a last-ditch meeting with NSW Transport Minister John Watkins this morning fails to resolve the dispute.
