Prime Minister John Howard today maintained there was a direct link between Work Choices' abolition of unfair dismissal laws and the latest unemployment figure of 4.5% - a claim the Opposition said was "ridiculous".
Nearly 10,000 public servants throughout the ACT will receive a 12% pay increase over the next three years in a deal that also strengthens employees' entitlement to part-time work after having children and increases paid "bonding" time for new parents.
Shadow IR Minister Julia Gillard has attacked the Howard Government for expecting employer organisations to support paid advertising to back Work Choices in return for $20m in public funding, while she says the Government isn't likely to tell the public the truth about its post-election IR plans.
The AIRC has refused an ASU application for orders to enforce its right of entry conditions at the Australian Tax Office, after finding the employer was not seeking to prevent the union from exercising its inspection rights.
The Fair Pay Commission's newly-launched investigation into piece rates could have wider implications, as it might influence the Federal Opposition's considerations of how to give employers - particularly in mining - the flexibility within awards to make effective individual common law agreements with their employees.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd says the ALP's IR policy will not adopt "the ACTU wish list" and will "ensure fairness in the workplace, whether it is union-represented or not."
AMWU and CEPU members at a P&H MinePro workshop in Perth will strike for 24 hours on Friday in an escalating dispute in which the mining equipment company's tactics have been branded as "extraordinary" by the AIRC.
The Fair Pay Commission is being asked to consider the gender equity impact of its pay determination this year after concerns that women will be particularly disadvantaged by increasingly decentralised wage-fixing.
Half of workers missing out on annual pay rise or not keeping up with inflation: Survey; CFMEU's McDonald back in court on May 1 over trespass charges; Highfield moving on from Virgin Blue; New appointments from employer ranks to PC; AIER seeking feedback on Charter of Employment Rights; and IR cases lift public awareness of High Court's work, says Kirby.
