The ALP's refusal to provide for "last resort" arbitration of bargaining disputes, and its plan to retain Work Choices' strong limits on industrial action and entry rights, suggests it is wrong for critics to portray the party's Forward with Fairness policy as simply adopting the ACTU's wish list, according to labour law academic Anthony Forsyth.
The fairness test and the uncertainty surrounding it appear to be responsible for AWA lodgements dropping for the first time since the introduction of Work Choices, while almost 55,000 AWAs are waiting to undergo the new test.
The next federal government should fund 14 weeks paid maternity leave and two weeks paid paternity leave and introduce strong rights to request part-time employment and work from home, according to an academic group's report.
AFPC exempts NSW SACS award from pay rise for work value increase; Employer wins operational reasons case; Nurse sacked for violence wins job back; Mighell open letter to Rudd; ETU ads misleading, says Hockey; Catholic book calls for more changes to Work Choices; and ICA welcomes ALP policy details.
Unions at Foster's Brewery in Yatala in Queensland and at the Cochlear implant factory in Sydney say employers at both sites are still insisting on non-union agreements despite employees overwhelmingly endorsing union representation in the agreement-making process.
Real pay rises flowing from the Fair Pay Commission's minimum wages decision today will depend on low inflation forecasts being realised over the 10-month period of the determination.
In its second minimum wage determination, handed down this morning, the Australian Fair Pay Commission has awarded another two-tiered increase, with employees on pay scales up to $700-a-week to receive $10.26-a-week extra and those earning more than that $5.30 - effective from October 1.
The fact sheet that all federal system employers must give to current employees by October 20 has been released by the government and is available from today on the internet or by telephone order.
