Australia's largest private sector employer, ColesMyer Ltd, supports moving to a system of industry-based awards, but only if they don't contain work practices now discarded by the large retailers. If ColesMyer can't be assured of that, it wants an enterprise award that would cover more than 150,000 employees.
Master Builders Australia, in its submission to the award review taskforce, is urging a "big bang" approach to award rationalisation, saying that as awards decline in relevance there will be less enthusiasm for the rationalisation process.
A clinical psychologist suffering from bipolar disorder and a cataract-related eye condition has lost her disability discrimination claim following her dismissal by a NSW health authority.
Enterprise and occupational awards should be retained when the Federal Government rationalises awards, any idea of moving to less than 20 industry awards should be abandoned, and any rationalisation should be undertaken by a re-empowered Commission with broad discretion to act in the best interests of award parties, according to the ACTU.
Mining giant Rio Tinto has joined unions in expressing concern about an industry sector approach to award rationalisation and, in its submission to the Award Review Taskforce, says flexible and productive enterprise awards should be left alone.
Unions have had another win in the battle to hang on to entitlements under threat from Work Choices, with the NSW IRC approving the SDA's application to rename rather than lose the shop workers' union picnic day.
The South Australian IRC has reserved its decision on whether to accede to Canberra's bid to adjourn the State Wage Case until the Fair Pay Commission makes its first determination in Spring, while the Federal Government is preparing to put similar submissions to the Queensland and NSW industrial tribunals.
In an important decision that could provide unfair dismissal protection to workers left exposed by Work Choices, a full bench of the NSW IRC has made clear it is not going down quietly, ruling it has the power to reinstate a sacked federally-covered worker.
The South Australian IRC has followed its NSW counterpart in flowing on to state award employees the family leave provisions the AIRC awarded federal workers last year, but which the Federal Government then refused to safeguard in Work Choices.
