The Federal Court has ordered an employer to delay a ballot of its workers for a non-union collective agreement after finding it exhibited a "lack of candour" when it failed to tell the AIRC it intended to hold the vote.
A pumphouse attendant at a steelworks who twice gave a co-worker an unwanted open-mouthed kiss has failed to convince the NSW IRC that his dismissal for sexual harassment was unfair.
Federal parliament has passed the Rudd Government's transitional IR legislation, with the Government getting its amendments up and independent Senator Nick Xenophon winning approval for his requirement that the AIRC consider the effect on industry of its modern awards.
CFMEU to face court over Tribe industrial dispute; Study finds race matters in job success; British Airways plea for workers to sacrifice pay; Gender imbalance on company boards getting worse; LHMU's Ferrari to become Fair Work Conciliator; Arbib filling in for Gillard; and Position vacant at JIR.
The Federal Court has ordered a blind manufacturer to pay a total of $360,000 to the CFMEU Federated Furnishing Trades Division's Victorian branch and about 40 of its members, after finding the company had been underpaying night shift loading.
The lawyer who represented the CFMEU's Noel Washington after he was charged for refusing to attend an ABCC interview says the Rudd Government's reference in its construction legislation to fines as an alternative to jail for not cooperating with a building watchdog examination did not soften the existing BCII Act provision.
Just one in every 45 employees had their pay and conditions determined by AWAs or ITEAs in August last year, according to new ABS statistics that, according to Professor David Peetz, prove that claims about AWA density before the 2007 federal election were "wildly exaggerated".
The Rudd Government has retained the BCII Act's six months jail penalty for individuals who refuse to cooperate with investigations by its new construction industry watchdog but has given courts the option of imposing a fine instead, while Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard will direct the ABCC to implement safeguards against the misuse of its coercive powers ahead of her new construction-specific IR laws taking effect next year.
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has today introduced her legislation to amend the BCII Act and replace the ABCC with Labor's Building Inspectorate. She announced she will direct ABC Commissioner John Lloyd to temper the way he uses his coercive powers and to report to her next month on the geographical alignment of the resources of the ABCC/Building Inspectorate and the industry's trouble spots.
Bargaining representatives will be able to apply to Fair Work Australia for orders to ensure protected action authorisations survive the July 1 cut-off under new Government amendments to the Fair Work transitional bill, while the Opposition and Greens will also pursue changes to the legislation.
