The Government has today introduced bills to streamline the agreement-making process and provide for fast access to interim s127 orders, although both are cut-down versions of legislation that lapsed last year.
The latest waterfront statistics show that Sydney stevedores have achieved record productivity levels, reaching 26.9 containers an hour, up dramatically from the 17.5 containers an hour immediately before the 1998 waterfront dispute.
The DEWR has chided car manufacturers for cosy arrangements with unions that limit flexible working arrangements, in a departmental submission to the Productivity Commission. The submission also highlights that carmakers' production systems are set to become even more vulnerable to any union-driven blockages in the supply chain.
A Holden employee who had a fight with a fellow worker on a 25-metre high maintenance platform has been dismissed for serious misconduct, despite the employer being aware of the long-running antagonism between the men.
The AWU is taking legal action against a metal recycling company that allegedly victimised its workers for raising safety concerns, in what the union says will be the first test of the NSW OHS Act's anti-victimisation provisions.
The AIG and peak car industry bodies have called for two "simple" legislative measures to prevent third-party disputes from halting production in the industry.
AMWU Victorian branch secretary Craig Johnston and three other union officials have been committed on charges of riot, affray, aggravated burglary and criminal damages over the alleged raid on Skilled Engineering.
The CFMEU's construction division has resolved its internal differences and says it will now turn its attention to this year's state bargaining rounds and external threats.
