ETU seeks ILO verdict on Fair Work Bill; AIRC upholds dismissal for breach of no-smoking policy; Holden executives to take 10% pay cut; New wage deal for Queensland electrical contractors; and Days lost to industrial action reach three-year high.
As Senate negotiations over the Fair Work Bill continue, the Government today dismissed claims that its legislation would add to the worsening unemployment numbers; the Opposition set 25 full-time-equivalent workers as its small business definition for unfair dismissal purposes; and the ACCI said it was considering arguing for no increase to minimum wages this year, while the Government confirmed it would again not put a dollar figure in its submission but would state that employment should be the priority.
NUW general secretary Charlie Donnelly has won Federal Court orders to stop the union's Queensland officials poaching members for a possible breakaway state branch.
NSW IR Court puts Riteway case on ice; DEWR cut corners in Work Choices campaign rush, report finds; Fair Work Bill amendments - what's not there significant, says Stewart; Retrenched DSI workers to get GEERS; Tribunal gives green light to hospital victimisation claim; and NSW A-G advertising for new anti-bias board members.
In an important ruling, the NSW Supreme Court has found a multinational retail optometry business is entitled to nominal damages after an employee breached her employment contract when she infringed the company's copyright by emailing documents to her husband, who worked for a competitor.
The Coalition emerged today from a lengthy party room debate without a clear position on IR, with leader Malcolm Turnbull outlining the Opposition's proposed amendments to the Fair Work bill but failing to say if it would vote against the legislation if those amendments were defeated. Meanwhile, as Senate negotiations continue, the minor parties' positions are becoming clearer.
The AWU and CFMEU are at odds on the ALP's changes to greenfields provisions in its Fair Work Bill, while the AMMA is continuing to press for current entry provisions to be retained.
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard will introduce more employer-friendly rules for greenfields agreements but has held firm on union entry rights in the latest round of changes to the Fair Work Bill, revealed yesterday.
US President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package and his Middle Class Taskforce both focus on seeking to increase "green jobs" - but what are they and how do they differ from other jobs?
