The broad agreement that now exists on the link between harmonious workplaces and productivity improvement is "perhaps the biggest development in Australian workplace relations since the introduction of enterprise bargaining 20 years ago", according to FWA Vice President Graeme Watson.
The AiG has delivered a scathing assessment of the Federal Government's recent and proposed IR changes and described the last year as one of "disappointment for business in the industrial relations arena".
After two years of consultation, Western Australia's Barnett Government has released its draft IR changes that seek to harmonise the state's unfair dismissal and right of entry laws, but stop short of reversing its refusal to join the national IR system.
The Federal Court's Justice Richard Tracey hopes to be able to resolve the challenge to the HSU Victorian No. 1 branch elections by the end of next week.
The ETU's internal legal battles - which national secretary Peter Tighe estimates have cost close to $1 million over the last year - are not over yet, with the Federal Court allowing the Victorian branch another chance to argue for an inquiry into last year's election, despite an appeal decision this week undermining its case.
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Pay rates excluding bonuses are continuing to rise at a moderate annual rate of 3.7% in trend terms, after increasing by 0.9% for the last four successive quarters, according to ABS data released today.
The ACCI says it will only support the Federal Government's move to create two statutory Fair Work Commission vice presidential positions if the two current tribunal vice presidents - Graeme Watson and Michael Lawler - are appointed to the roles.
A FWA full bench has quashed an income protection scheme for firefighters, finding the tribunal's inability to govern the third party provider was a powerful reason for not imposing the scheme on the Melbourne Fire and Emergency Services Board.
