An FWC full bench has given a mental health service volunteer another shot at applying for anti-bullying orders after quashing a finding that, because he was participating in a government-funded program to improve his wellbeing, he was not a "worker" according to the federal WHS Act.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus has conceded the chances of the Fair Work Commission granting the union movement's claim for a 6% increase in minimum wages are "not massive".
NSW Labor says that if it wins the March 23 state election it will ditch public sector pay caps in favour of a bargaining framework that allows the IRC to grant productivity-based increases, while shadow IR Minister Adam Searle accuses the Berejiklian Government of a budget blowout due to a reliance on insecure labour.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and a key frontbencher have separately indicated that a Labor Government might be willing to change the Fair Work Act's minimum wages objective to guide the FWC in moving towards a "living wage".
The ACTU will today unveil a claim for a 6% increase in the national minimum wage, which would translate to an extra $43 a week for Australia's lowest-paid workers.
The NUW claims the Chemist Warehouse group has sought to immediately break an indefinite strike, which started today at warehouses in Victoria and Queensland.
The Federal Court has refused to give the AWU access to privileged documents said to reveal legal advice about whether former IR Minister Michaelia Cash had power to direct the Registered Organisations Commission ahead of it arranging a police raid on the union's headquarters.
RAFFWU is challenging the approval of a Kmart deal that won overwhelming endorsement from workers, claiming a refusal to provide an opt-out of the retail industry superannuation fund and 1c above-award pay rates will mean it fails the better off overall test.
The FWC has sent employers a clear reminder of the conditions and processes required to justify summary dismissal, with its reinstatement of a contractor's employee who admitted to vomiting at a major client's after-hours function but denied propositioning one of its managers.
