The Award Review Taskforce will early next year begin consultations with two key award-reliant industries - hospitality and retail - while it has already begun comparing wage classifications within specific industries to assist in deciding how to streamline them, according to its chair, Matthew O'Callaghan.
The AIRC is expected to decide this week on whether to defy the Federal Government by proceeding with the ACTU's national wage case application before the first decision of the new Fair Pay Commission.
A confidential Federal Treasury briefing on the Work Choices legislation shows the government lied about the legislation's likely effects - suppressing minimum wages and cutting short-term productivity, the ACTU said today.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews is seeking feedback by January 31 on two discussion papers released today which outline options for the award review process, including cutting back the 4,100 state and federal awards to fewer than 20.
Barrister Steve Crawshaw SC has pointed out that Workplace Express has misinterpreted his comments about testing whether an organisation is a constitutional corporation.
The Federal Government's new IR regime will cost $451.9 million over the next four years - $37.7m less than estimated in the Work Choices explanatory memorandum.
The Federal Court has today ordered the Commonwealth Bank to pay a record $750,000 fine to the Finance Sector Union for breaching the Workplace Relations Act when it shifted hundreds of managerial employees onto individual contracts in its CommSec subsidiary.
The shut-down calendar continues to be the main sticking point in the Queensland construction industry bargaining round, where the building unions are by-passing the MBA and pursuing major subcontractors and some builders first up.
The AIRC has this afternoon issued a s127 order to halt a wildcat strike by Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald journalists in Sydney, and to stop journalists at The Age from joining the stoppage.
