Work Choices to take effect late March; Independent Contractors Bill ASAP: Andrews; PSA threatens work bans after NSW Government reveals plans to cut 5,000 public sector jobs; Super union for Victorian emergency services; 40% of employers offer job sharing, says Hudson paper; and AWOTE up 1% in quarter, 5.5% annually, reaches $1,000 mark in private sector.
Unions and the term "employee" will disappear in the next 25 to 30 years, leading forecaster Phil Ruthven has told a work-life balance conference in Perth.
The AIRC has reserved its decision on Boeing's application for a s128 order stopping the NSW IRC from arbitrating its long running dispute with the AWU at Williamtown RAAF base.
The SA IRC has proposed adopting the current Federal Minimum Wage as the new "minimum remuneration standard" under the State's Fair Work Act passed last year.
Apprentices in the metal industry will be able to advance with a greater emphasis on competency rather than time-served, and will receive extra pay if they start after completing years 11 and 12, following an AIRC ruling yesterday.
The CFMEU (construction & general division) and major construction company Bovis Lend Lease have struck a sixth-round national deal that delivers employees a 13% pay increase over a three-year period.
The ACTU has kicked off a campaign to "name and shame" employers seeking to cut wages or conditions under the Work Choices Act, citing plans for a 5% pay cut by Melbourne auto parts maker Dana, and the lockout of 20 workers resisting AWAs at the Teys Bros abattoir in South Australia.
In a major setback to the Federal Government's new minimum wage fixing regime, the Queensland IRC has rejected Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews' attempt to have the State Wage Case adjourned until after the Australian Fair Pay Commission's first wage determination in Spring.
Universities have dominated this year's Employer of Choice for Women citations from the federal Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, taking out 21 of the 116 honourable mentions.
