A former abattoir worker, who received unpaid entitlements only after FWO intervention, can also seek damages for negligence after a High Court ruling today, but the NSW Court of Appeal will now need to establish who employed him.
A full shutdown of BlueScope Steel's operation in Port Kembla would double the local unemployment rate to above 15% and deliver a $3.3 billion economic hit, according to a study commissioned by the AWU.
The MUA is tomorrow taking Hutchison Ports to the Federal Court over the sacking by midnight text and email of almost 100 workers from its Port Botany and Brisbane container terminals, while union peak bodies have stepped in to coordinate pickets.
Workers at Woolworths' Laverton distribution centre in Melbourne's western suburbs are today defying Fair Work Commission orders to return to work, while at its distribution centre in the city's north tensions are growing over relocation plans which the NUW says are about paving the way for increased automation.
The Federal Circuit Court has taken into account a former public servant's deceptive conduct in requiring him to pay $15,000 to secure his former employer's potential costs if he proceeds with an adverse action case.
Hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses in the private sector are increasing at a record low of 2.2% a year in trend terms, according to the ABS Wage Price Index, released today.
The ACTU is seeking to build opposition to cutting weekend penalty rates through a mass door-knock in marginal seats across Australia in mid-September, while employer associations are pushing crossbench senators to back the Government's bill to re-establish the ABCC.
Five waterfront workers have been awarded a total of $120,000 in compensation for the emotional distress they suffered after the MUA named them in "scab posters" that had them fearing for their safety.
Talks are continuing today to avert the first rail stoppage in Melbourne in nearly two decades, after the Fair Work Commission yesterday brought the parties back to the bargaining table.
A CommSec customer service officer placed on performance plans and counselled for breaching the company's "clean desk" policy has failed to convince the FWC he was bullied by his employer and two supervisors.
