The Federal Court has ordered the MUA to pay $150,000 in penalties and $60,000 in costs for unlawful boycotts, coercion and harassment when it picketed three ships and delayed their departures.
More than 20,000 Myer Grace Bros employees are voting on a new enterprise agreement which commits the retailer to shifting 20-year-olds onto adult pay rates and gives it some breathing space by delaying the largest of three annual pay increases until the final year.
Extended working hours can only by curtailed effectively by imposing limits such as those proven to work in the Victorian electrical contracting sector, according to a new study prepared for the ACTU's reasonable hours test case.
BHP-Billiton has won a new right to manage its Pilbara iron ore operations, while the WA IRC has dealt a blow to its individual contracts strategy by granting a 20% pay increase and a 6% boost to super contributions to 470 award workers who refused to sign individual deals.
IR amendments introduced to Queensland Parliament by IR Minister Gordon Nuttall, which provide for pay equity and wrest power from IRC President David Hall, have drawn fire from unions concerned at limits imposed on arbitrated awards.
Workers employed by outsourced service provider Serco have voted resoundingly against having their employment regulated by AWAs, while National Rail workers have won a 4% increase over 12 months ahead of the organisation's privatisation.
Some 15,000 female employees in the NSW local government sector have won nine weeks paid maternity leave under a consent award ratified by the State IRC yesterday.
WA unions have broken with protocol by using an official IRC welcome ceremony to criticise the appointment of new IRC member Nick Blain, a former advisor to the last WA Liberal Government's Labour Relations Minister, Graham Kierath.
