Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has provided new details on the content and confirmed dates for the introduction of Labor's two transitional IR bills.
The ABCC has issued subpoenas against Workplace Express and a News Ltd publication for all notes and records used in articles on the Westgate Bridge dispute, in an action described as "extraordinary" by chair of the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations committee Senator Gavin Marshall.
AIRC ranks get thinner; Wilcox review debate in Sydney next week; Fair Work Bill and maternity leave inquiry reports imminent; and New role for Combet.
Centrelink management has put a new wage deal on the table that offers employees better pay, more leave and improved flexibility in exchange for longer working hours.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh's announcement of a March 21 election has stymied plans to return administrative powers to the Queensland IRC's President, David Hall, while the Opposition says it has "no plans" to change the State's IR system.
The minimum wage has barely retained its value in real terms over the past two years, with only the tax and welfare systems giving the lowest paid a chance to get ahead, a new Australian Fair Pay Commission report shows.
The AMWU and AWU in Victoria have reached an in-principle agreement with a group of contractors in the State's construction and mechanical engineering sector that was renegotiated in light of the global financial crisis but will still deliver some 3,000-to-4,000 employees a 9% wage increase and better Saturday overtime.
