In a major decision that brings thousands of short-term casuals within the reach of federal unfair dismissal laws, a full bench of the AIRC has departed from authority and held that a waitress doing regular and systematic work but with less than a year's service could make an unfair dismissal claim.
The long-running IR battle at Anglo Coal's Moranbah North coal mine in Queensland continues this week, with mineworkers taking further industrial action in pursuit of an enterprise agreement after the company failed recently to have the bargaining periods covering the site suspended or terminated.
Queensland unions appeal exemption from minimum wage; Victorian lawyers investigate fast food industry; Fulltime employees stay longer, ABS; More employers using performance hurdles to curb executive pay; QIRC approves ambulance service award variation; and Ferro fails to adopt AIRC recommendations, says APESMA.
A full bench of the AIRC has dismissed CFMEU (mining & energy division) arguments that past disputes at a Queensland coal mine couldn't be used to justify a s127 order against further industrial action because they weren't caught by the dispute resolution provision in the site EA, and it over-rode the award dispute resolution clauses that would have applied.
Another enterprise agreement has fallen foul of the Workplace Relations Act's requirement that deals cover matters pertaining to the employment relationship, with Coles Myer Logistics and the SDA in Queensland this time the affected parties.
In a breakthrough in the deadlock over the construction of Australia Post's $20 million mail screening facility at Tullamarine airport, contractor Hansen Yuncken and the CFMEU (construction & general division) were this afternoon before the AIRC seeking certification of a project deal for the site.
In the first fallout from the Federal Government's new higher education IR rules announced this week, Sydney University has withdrawn from an in-principle deal with the NTEU due to be signed off today. Employees have responded by planning a 24-hour strike for next month.
Employers should develop policies on when employees working from home can and cannot be contacted, according to a new guide by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry.
The PSA will soon lodge a two-year wage claim of 25% for some 80,000 public sector workers, while its members will take to the streets tomorrow in protest against massive job cuts across the public sector.
The Howard Government's new linkage between university funding and IR reform, which will be backdated to yesterday if legislation passes the Senate, has sparked an angry reaction from unions, employers and non-government political parties, who are now pushing for the legislation to be amended.