A full bench of the Queensland IRC has accepted that the state's cane growers are under great financial pressure, but refused to exempt them from paying their employees this year's $15-a-week living wage increase.
The NSW IRC in Court Session has slammed Westpac subsidiary AGC for its "seriously flawed" investigation of a manager's alleged victimisation of a female employee and ordered the company to pay him more than $80,000.
More than 1,000 Fairfax editorial employees have begun a campaign of protected rolling stoppages, after talks with management earlier this week failed to resolve an enterprise bargaining deadlock.
The Democrats have rejected overtures from Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith to consider some limited legislative changes to discourage industry-wide bargaining and provide for cooling-off periods.
In a setback to Campaign 2000 on the day of its first industry-wide protected strike, the IRC has warned that industry-wide industrial action in support of common claims and an absence of genuine bargaining could lead to the IRC terminating or suspending bargaining periods.
The security guard at Prime Minister John Howard's Sydney residence who was sacked for sleeping on the job has lost his unfair dismissal case in the IRC.
