The Shadow Treasurer has pledged that Labor will support key Abbott Government's budget measures, including the removal of tax breaks for some FIFO workers, while he has attacked the Government's move on paid parental leave "double dipping" as "an ill-thought out, illusory saving" that will drive employers to abandon their own schemes.
Coles Supermarkets has for the first time included all non-salaried employees in its new national enterprise agreement, which will deliver 3% annual pay increases to more than 75,000 workers.
A FWC full bench has ruled invalid a major company's representational rights notice for departing from strict wording and content requirements, after giving the employer and unions the opportunity to respond to newly-published guidelines on the issue.
The Heydon Royal Commission has today asked for further submissions on the introduction of US-style anti-racketeering laws "to combat unlawful activities" in the construction industry, while noting it would constitute "a significant step requiring detailed and careful consideration".
FWC general manager Bernadette O'Neill has defended a partly-unpaid in-house program to train tribunal employees as conciliators, after the CPSU today notified a dispute over it.
The Abbott Government has urged the Fair Work Commission to take a "cautious approach" in this year's minimum wage review due to below-trend GDP growth and a slower than expected recovery in non-mining sectors, while the ACTU says the small business measures in the Budget "dramatically improve the affordability" of pay rises in the award-reliant sector.
Journalist Scott McIntyre, sacked by SBS after making controversial tweets about Anzac Day, has lodged an adverse action claim with the FWC, claiming he was unlawfully dismissed for expressing a political opinion.
The TWU has called for greater rights for foreign workers on temporary visas, with criminal sanctions to be imposed on employers who exploit them and illegally undercut wages.
The stevedoring award contains "inflated" penalty rates that are out of proportion to those applying in other industries, a senior FWC member has found in a decision in which he was overruled by a full bench majority.
