The ACCI has today adopted a new 10-point skilled migration policy, with its general council at the same time calling on the ALP to drop key planks of its IR policy, including abolishing AWAs.
While the ALP and unions are attacking Work Choices by highlighting its impact on individual employees, Prime Minister John Howard last night continued with his strategy of seeking to instead put Australia's economic performance centre-stage of the IR debate.
The AIRC has this afternoon resumed a conference with the administrators of Huon Corp, its major customers and unions, after five hours of talks last night.
The NSW Supreme Court has ordered a sales manager not to contact his former clients or try to entice away his former colleagues, after finding he breached a confidentiality clause in his employment contract when he went to work for a direct competitor.
Australian full-time employees are putting in longer hours than they were 20 years ago, but the growth in the proportion of both men and women doing part-time work means that fewer hours overall are being worked now, the ABS has found.
ACCI defends push for Work Choices amendments; Supreme Court continues Perth-Mandurah injunctions; Harper rejects media reports on awards classifications decision; and Odco system owner criticises changes to Independent Contractor legislation.
Documents obtained by the ACTU show that the ACCI and the Howard Government are secretly preparing for a new wave of IR changes to allow AWAs to override Work Choices' five minimum standards and to give employers the right to stand down workers without notice and require employees to work more than 38 hours a week, according to the union peak body.
An application under s496 by car parts manufacturer ZF Lemfoerder to have Huon Corporation workers ordered back to work has been adjourned this afternoon, and will resume in a conference involving three of the big four car makers tomorrow afternoon.
Protest wasn't industrial action, says AIRC; Andrews extends EAP; Federal assistance package for redundant Coles Myer distribution centre workers; Deadlines looming for submissions to AFPC and other inquiries; and AIRC centenary exhibition heads south for winter.
The NSW Independent Education Union will seek to clarify the extent of state award coverage of non-government schools, in a special case application it has made to the State Industrial Court for a new four-year award to cover non-government school teachers from 2007.