Federal WR Minister Kevin Andrews today announced changes to the Government's construction industry Code that will require contractors for Commonwealth building work to be Code-compliant before submitting tenders and to ensure all their new projects are Code-compliant, even on non-Government jobs.
The South Australian Government has won its pay battle with the PSA, after the SA IRC accepted nearly all the Government's submissions in an arbitrated award covering the State's 27,000 public servants.
The CFMEU and building industry employers are tomorrow expected to find out if the Federal Government has moved the goal posts on the sector's code of conduct when Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, outlines his construction industry reforms.
The ACCI has written to church leaders in Australia seeking meetings to discuss the Howard Government's proposed IR changes, saying those involved in public debate should "avoid being misled" by unions.
Seventeen per cent of employers are likely to hire more staff as a result of the Federal Government's proposed abolition of unfair dismissal laws for businesses with up to 100 employees, according to a new survey.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, maintains the growth of the "enterprise worker" has been the most important economic development in Australia in the last two decades, and says it is "attitude of mind" that separates them from the rest.
Despite the tight labour market, most employers are still only paying lip service to efforts to retain existing employees, and are focussing their expenditure on attracting new staff, according to new research.
The AIRC has ruled that an extensive employee representation clause in an EBA does not give union officials an "unfettered right" to enter workplaces to attend senior staff meetings, even though all the senior officers were union members.