An Abbott Government will, as expected, initiate a Productivity Commission review of the Fair Work Act if it wins office in September then take any proposed policy changes stemming from it to the following election, while it would also consider creating an independent jurisdiction for FWC appeals, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said today as he released the Coalition's IR policy.
Virgin ejects flight attendant who failed three safety-related exams; FWC criticises Federal Police for failing to settle case; Labour hire employee wasn't dismissed, says tribunal; and Employer within rights to sack worker over aggressive reaction, says FWC.
Firefighters have won "in principle" approval for an award variation to cover "community first responders" who perform advanced first aid emergency work similar to that of paramedics.
The Fair Work Commission has granted an order requiring an electrical engineering company to recognise the CEPU as a bargaining agent for casual employees it had wrongly excluded from agreement negotiations, but has refused the union's request to reinstate workers dismissed during the bargaining.
A damning wire tap has forced former CFMEU national secretary John Maitland to admit today that he lied to the NSW ICAC by disclosing confidential details about his "grilling" by investigators, a criminal offence that carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
A FWC full bench headed by new Vice President Adam Hatcher has quashed a return-to-work order served on 20 Lend Lease workers by text message in March, finding the tribunal's failure to convene a hearing to deal with the employer's application had denied them procedural fairness.
Major beef processor and exporter Teys Brothers has failed to head off an interim injunction restoring the meatworkers union's power to hold member meetings in the lunchroom of the company's Beenleigh site.
Shadow Workplace Relations Minister Senator Eric Abetz has revealed the Coalition's IR policy is likely to target job security clauses in enterprise agreements, IFAs and non-compliance by unions with court injunctions, and has called on employers to stop doing sweetheart deals to buy industrial peace.
New assistance for self-represented FWC parties; Virgin ground crew vote down agreement; Melhem's move into Parliament gets the green light; McCallum to discuss Fair Work Act review and what comes next; and Union says Medibank employees rejected deal over work-life balance.
Painting the long-running Qantas dispute as a battle between job security and labour flexibility, two leading IR academics have suggested other major employers might follow the airline's lead in engineering arbitrated outcomes to difficult bargaining negotiations.
