Sydney public bus drivers will receive a 4% annual pay increase plus improved paid maternity leave, sick leave and job sharing arrangements under a deal with the NSW Government that also commits them to having their sick leave patterns monitored.
The Federal Court has today ordered the DEWR to pay a penalty of $30,000 - just short of the $33,000 maximum - for discriminating against union members when it advised Australian Public Service agencies to refuse leave to employees who planned to take part in a 2005 national union protest against Work Choices.
PM says no more IR changes planned, announces $393m extra for skills; ACTU launches new ad, says PM cannot be trusted on IR plans; Hanssen faces penalties for lodging unapproved AWAs; St George Bank employees approve 4% rises in FSU deal; and new officers at NSW Teachers Federation.
The NSW Government has two interests in maintaining its existing IR system - and both involve avoiding the disputation inherent in the federal scheme, according to a submission to the Williams inquiry into a national IR regime.
A truly unitary national IR system appears most likely to be achieved by a cooperative approach under which federal and state governments retain complementary powers, according to the Chief Commissioner of the WA IRC.
The AIRC's President, Justice Geoffrey Giudice, has called for industrial parties to cast aside their differences and capitalise on the opportunity created by the High Court's Work Choices decision by developing a national IR system based on the corporations power.
Tasmanian nurses escalate industrial action; One down, five to go, for Joe McDonald; Keating defends unions at Combet campaign launch; and ALP chooses replacement for Guley.
The AIRC has reinstated a sacked supervisor, in a case in which it had to decide whether he jokingly accused an employee of "sucking up" to or "sucking off" the company's supply chain manager.
Victorian public sector nurses have voted to accept an ANF collective agreement with the State Government that provides annual pay rises of at least 3.25% over four years, 500 extra nurses, greater rostering flexibility and restrictions on hiring unlicensed workers.
