Four years ago on Sunday, Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Coal dismissed 16 workers at Blair Athol coal mine in central Queensland. In what the CFMEU (mining & energy division) describes as "outrageous", their unfair dismissal claims remain unresolved – a record under the federal sphere.
The Federal Court has prevented a dismissed academic who had already lost his unfair dismissal case from pursuing the University of NSW again by alleging his sacking was in breach of its certified agreement and common law contract with him.
The Victorian Government has announced plans to launch a work life strategy by the end of the year, in a move that adds weight to its support for a national paid maternity leave scheme.
The ACTU has called for an increase in compulsory superannuation contributions and urged the Senate to reject proposed new legislation that it says will undermine an already successful system.
The National Electrical Contractors Association claims it has presented a "ground-breaking case" before the NSW IRC aimed at making the NSW electrical award "more family and lifestyle friendly". The ETU, however, maintains the changes are anti-worker, and NECA's real agenda is to undermine the coming bargaining round in the construction industry.
FSU assistant national secretary, Peter Riordan, is leaving the union after 21 years to take up a position with the NSW Department of Industrial Relations.
Peak employer group, ACCI, has rejected HREOC's proposal of a national paid maternity leave scheme, saying it places an unnecessary burden on employers.
The FSU has accepted a revised pay offer from the Commonwealth Bank of an 8% increase over two years, ending a lengthy stand off between the parties over wages and conditions.
The IRC has made it clear that workers are obliged to tell their employers about previous misconduct, after it upheld a man's dismissal for failing to reveal such information when he started a new job.
Fifty Victorian workers are picketing City West Water over a dispute with outsourced maintenance companies, after a switch in contracts saw a reduction in their wages and conditions.
