The AMWU has proposed 10 key reforms to the s457 temporary work visa system which, it says, are required to ensure that local training and skills and not undermined and that visa holders are not exploited.
The metal unions' Campaign 2006 has been "very quiet" compared to 2003 and 2000, when there had been statewide stoppages, according to AiG national IR director Stephen Smith.
The Federal Government today won stays against two AIRC orders varying minimum pay rates in awards, pending a review sought by Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews to confirm the Fair Pay Commission's exclusive jurisdiction over wages under Work Choices.
The Award Review Taskforce has recommended against any immediate rationalisation of preserved award pay and classification scales until further research and consultation is conducted. It has also allocated all awards to 19 industry-based divisions, in a hint of where it might be heading with award rationalisation.
When unions notify their intention to take industrial action, they might have to be more specific about the nature of the action than when they ask members to support the action in a secret ballot, according to AiG national IR director Stephen Smith.
The Federal Court has refused an application by BHP Billiton Iron Ore for an interlocutory order stopping the WA IRC from hearing a union dispute, rejecting the company's argument that Work Choices removed the State Commission's jurisdiction.
Protected and unprotected industrial action appears to have plummeted under Work Choices, with AIRC data showing a substantial reduction in applications over the past five months to initiate bargaining periods and to halt unlawful industrial action.
Queensland IR Court broadens scope for unfair contract applications; AMWU plans Radio Rentals strike after first secret ballot win in SA; and NSW doubles small claims limit for unpaid workers to $20,000.
One in every two Work Choices termination of employment applications claims that the worker was dismissed for unlawful discriminatory reasons, according to the AIRC's President, Justice Geoffrey Giudice.
Former Ansett employees will next week receive another $46.9 million in a sixth dividend payment from company administrators after a creditors meeting yesterday approved pooling arrangements for the 40 companies in the failed airlines group, ending lengthy Federal Court proceedings on the carve-up