Manufacturing employers' peak body Ai Group says a safety net increase of $8 to $10 a week, along with recent tax cuts and interest rate cuts, would deliver the equivalent of the $28 increase the ACTU is seeking for around 850,000 low-paid workers.
After the weekend's landslide Labor win in the Queensland election, two ministers in the Beattie Government's first term appear to be the most likely contenders for the IR Minister's job left vacant by Paul Braddy, who has retired.
The Minister for Workplace Relations, Tony Abbott, has advised all public sector department heads against signing deals that include bargaining fees for non-union workers - at the same time as another union has announced plans to charge non-unionists for benefits won.
The 129-day dispute at the Qenos petrochemicals production facility in Altona, Victoria, is over, with employees on Saturday voting in favour of accepting the IRC's return to work recommendations.
Leaders of unions representing workers across BHP's operations today pledged to stand by the company's unionised Pilbara workforce in the wake of yesterday's decision to take the individual contracts battle out of the courts - but were guarded about what that entailed.
The ACTU has made a pitch to the Democrats to support the introduction of works councils if a Labor Government takes power at the next federal election.
Casual employees with less than 12 months service could be entitled to make unfair dismissal claims, if the SDA is successful in a bid to have regulations excluding short-term casuals declared invalid.
