While a lot of the focus on the Federal Government's Fair Work Bill yesterday was on its right of entry and bargaining provisions, they are of "minimal relevance" to the overwhelming majority of employees and it is the NES, the awards system and unfair dismissal rights that are of far greater significance to a far greater number, according to Adelaide University's Professor Andrew Stewart.
The arrival of the Fair Work Bill has failed to dispel uncertainty in the legal profession about whether they will play a reduced role in the new IR system.
A central role for informal conferences and tightly confined appeal rights are central features of the unfair dismissal provisions in the Fair Work Bill, with the place of lawyers in the new system left in the hands of Fair Work Australia.
Six days before the start of his trial for refusing to attend an ABCC interview, the Commonwealth DPP has dropped its charge against the CFMEU's (construction division) Victorian senior vice president Noel Washington.
The Fair Work Bill mandates that an "individual flexibility arrangement" clause - modelled on the flexibility clause to be incorporated into modern awards - be included in all collective agreements.
The new low-paid bargaining and arbitration stream introduced by the Fair Work Bill could lead to improved wages and conditions for up to 20% of the workforce, according to LHMU national legal co-ordinator Neal Swancott.
Employer groups have had plenty of warning about what the Rudd Government's Fair Work Bill would deliver, and while their responses today ranged from a "workable compromise" to "the greatest increase in union power since Federation", it was the legislation's expansion of union right of entry that was consistently listed as a key concern, with the AiG also nominating the new transmission of business provisions.
The Opposition will not block the Rudd Government's Fair Work Bill and accepts Work Choices is dead, Coalition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said this afternoon.
The AIRC has rejected a business analyst's claim for unfair dismissal after finding that the state government superannuation fund he once worked for is not a constitutional corporation.
