The NSW IRC will have to look at whether enterprise agreements up for approval contain an anti-discrimination clause under new principles adopted by a five-member full bench.
In another victory for casual workers - this time in the field rather than the IRC - a resort in the Blue Mountains, NSW, has backed down on its earlier decision to contract out 40 casual cleaners' jobs.
In two separate cases brought by the Employment Advocate, the Federal Court has found that the Queensland branches of the CFMEU (construction division) and the BLF and three union organisers breached freedom of association laws when attempting to get workers to join up.
Thousands of Queensland public sector casuals will be able to receive pay increments for the first time and part-time workers will have earlier access to them following a recent State IRC decision.
Casuals in the metal industry will by March be entitled to the bulk of the new benefits awarded to them by the federal IRC in its landmark job security decision handed down during the holiday period.
The Federal Court's finding that BHP Iron Ore's individual contracts push was lawful is a major blow to the union movement, striking at the very heart of what union membership at the company's Pilbara operations now means.
Workplace Express won't be uploading any news stories until January 11, when the editorial team returns from the Christmas break. The site will continue to be available for subscribers to access the archive and search for articles.
A new enterprise agreement for the Bank of Queensland continues a "no redundancy" policy, provides $1,000 a year of shares to each of the 670 employees subject to the bank18s profitability and pays a minimum of 7.25% over three years, plus performance increases.
The trend towards casualisation has been overstated by one-third, while casuals tend to have better job security than is widely understood, according to a new Productivity Commission study.
