Cheap air travel that has enabled the proliferation of fly-in, fly-out arrangements has "dispersed the benefits" of the resources boom, according to Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson, while mining companies in submissions to a parliamentary inquiry are pushing for new tax breaks to encourage housing of workers near mines.
Labour and discrimination law in Australia have been "two separate spheres spinning independently" and need to be better integrated, Sydney University Emeritus Professor of Law Ron McCallum said recently, in a speech in which he also cautioned against making it easier to terminate industrial action in the wake of the Qantas ruling.
Ballot valid despite employees not getting papers; Service industry probe uncovers sham contracting; Delays on OHS harmonisation; Full bench upholds truck driver reinstatement; FWA confirms minimum wage timetable; and Correction to Qantas appeal article.
A contractor on Woodside's giant Pluto LNG project has failed to convince a Fair Work Australia full bench that the tribunal should not have granted a majority support determination when a planned demobilisation meant many of the workers who voted in favour of bargaining wouldn't be covered by any agreement that might have eventuated.
Patrick and the MUA have reached in-principle agreement on the eve of the company's AGM for an enterprise deal that delivers productivity improvements at it the company's container terminals, in return for pay rises for 1200 stevedoring employees of 22.5% over about four years and eight months.
In a major development in the SACS equal remuneration test case, the Federal Government has committed to providing $2 billion to deliver social and community services workers the Queensland pay rates unions have been seeking, but with a delayed start date and a six-year rather than a five-year phase-in.
Cleaners seeking industry-wide agreement might take industrial action; Shorten says MySuper bill means no more charging workers for Rolls Royce product; Abattoir owner told to hand over documents; and Victorian public sector industrial action hotting up.
Next year's review of the Fair Work Act should examine whether the legislation ensures that good faith bargaining occurs, Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans has said.
Failing to notify workers about their representational rights ahead of bargaining doesn't necessarily mean the resulting agreement can't be approved, a FWA full bench majority has found.
