In a move that the government has dismissed as a political stunt, the ACTU has told Employment Minister Eric Abetz he should suspend his IR legislative agenda for at least a year to enable the Heydon trade union inquiry and the Productivity Commission Fair Work Act review to run their course.
Employment Minister Eric Abetz says that no formal decision has been made to create an appeal jurisdiction for the Fair Work Commission, despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott flagging his personal support for the plan.
Labor and the Greens have combined in the Senate today to defeat the Abbott Government's legislation to establish a Registered Organisations Commission and align penalties for union and employer association officials with corporations law.
Labor and Greens members that make up the majority of a Senate committee have adopted AiG's view that substantial elements of the Abbott Government's Registered Organisations Bill are too onerous and need to be relaxed.
Fair Work Commission general manager Bernadette O'Neill will seek civil penalties against the Musicians' Union and one of its officials for 118 alleged breaches of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act.
The Coalition has largely succeeded in neutralising IR as a 2013 federal election issue by promising to retain – at least for one term – Labor's Fair Work framework, but Australia's two major parties are still going to the September 7 poll with some significant policy differences, including on paid parental leave, right of entry, and construction industry regulation. Workplace Express compares their IR policies and those of the Greens, whose future hold on the Senate balance of power is uncertain.
