With reports circulating of a planned royal commission into union misconduct, the House of Representatives has passed the Coalition's registered organisations bill - its first measure directly targeting unions.
Toyota Australia will now have to undertake a "two-step process" to remove "uncompetitive" clauses from its enterprise agreement, after the Federal Court's Justice Mordy Bromberg this afternoon issued an injunction halting a ballot that was to open at midnight.
A day after Holden's announcement that it will pull out of Australia by the end of 2017, the Federal Court has found that Toyota's bid to amend its enterprise agreement to remove what it called "outdated and uncompetitive" provisions is in breach of the deal's "no extra claims" clause.
In the same week as it asked childcare providers to return funds earmarked for employees' pay increases, the Federal Government has scrapped a Labor scheme that poured $1.1 billion into aged care workers' wages and training.
The Federal Court has found that a former executive breached his AWA, fiduciary obligations and an equitable duty of confidence in eleven action-packed months of employment by setting up a business to compete with his employer, diverting clients to his new venture and stealing 156 confidential documents.
General Motors has announced it will close its Australian manufacturing operations by the end of 2017, resulting in a direct loss of 2,900 jobs and threatening the automotive industry's survival.
United Voice has accused the Federal Government of encouraging childcare employers to break the law in asking them to hand back money they secured to fund pay increases due under enterprise agreements, saying it's "very clear" they are obliged to pass it on.
Victorian Chief Magistrate Peter Lauritsen has given Victoria Police the bulk of labour law firm Slater & Gordon's documents relating to former AWU official Bruce Wilson's establishment of a union election slush fund in 1992, accepting evidence from his former sidekick Ralph Blewitt in finding they were prepared in the furtherance of fraudulent conduct.
Queensland public servants will receive three 2.2% wage increases between now and December 2015, as a result of a Newman Government ministerial directive issued days before the Queensland Supreme Court was due to hear the government's appeal against an Industrial Court ruling on an interim pay increase.
Australian public service agencies need to develop "more mature and nuanced approaches" if they are to successfully manage employees' comments on work-related issues through social media, the APSC has warned.
