In a damning indictment of Esso's workplace safety practices at its Longford gas facility, the Victorian Supreme Court has imposed $2m of penalties, levying maximum fines against the company for fundamental failures to protect and train its workers.
The Victorian Supreme Court has today fined Esso $2m over the 1998 gas blast and fire at its Longford facility that killed two workers and injured eight others.
TWU secretary John Allan is confident he has the support of TWU members for the union's proposed agreement with Qantas in the face of a campaign by the LHMU against the deal.
The vehicle union has won members' backing at stopworks today to begin industrial action from the middle of next month if bargaining with Holden continues to be bogged down.
The IRC has refused to terminate the bargaining period for a group of security guards who provide screening services for Ansett at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport.
Companies planning to downsize should do so strategically and after consulting employees or face the loss of core skills and employee commitment, according to a study released yesterday.
Construction union national secretary John Sutton said this afternoon his union would cooperate with the Cole Royal Commission if it was genuine about tackling corruption.
The coal mining union's national legal officer, drawing on his experience in fighting five multi-employee unfair dismissal cases following major redundancies, has urged employers to talk to workers and unions about their plans rather than wasting money on "big city lawyers giving bad advice".
