IRC cases are taking more than twice as long to reach a decision than when the Howard Government took power and this trend will continue unless more appointments are made to the Commission, according to IRC President Justice Geoffrey Giudice.
The ACTU will pursue a $28 flat increase for workers earning less than $492.20 a week and 5.7% for those above that level in its 2001 living wage claim.
Employees will have award rights to enforce reasonable limits on working hours, while casuals with a year of service will be entitled to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave, if the ACTU is successful in two test cases it announced at its executive meeting in Melbourne today.
The HREOC has found the RAAF vicariously liable for the sexual harassment of a leading aircraft woman, saying its inappropriate response to the situation had contributed to her discharge and near breakdown.
In a move likely to fire up the debate over demarcations at tomorrow's ACTU executive meeting, the TWU has struck another single-union deal with new airline entrant Virgin Blue that excludes the ASU.
An anti-discrimination tribunal has awarded an injured armoured vehicle worker $8,000 for the distress, humiliation and stress resulting from his discriminatory treatment by a Brambles subsidiary.
An IRC decision that opened the way for thousands of workers not entitled to severance pay under awards to claim it via the WR Act's termination provisions is under appeal and has been stayed.
In a record penalty for breaching the WR Act's freedom of association provisions, an employer will pay the AMWU $49,000 for threatening to get rid of employees for being involved in the union and inducing them to resign from the union.
BHP Coal has applied to terminate three enterprise agreements in NSW in addition to two in Queensland, as both states face further bargaining strikes next week plus at least a further two months of rolling stoppages.
