Unions that engage in "systematic abuse" of their entry rights will face severe new sanctions, including revocation of permits for the entire union, according to the Howard Government's WorkChoices blueprint for its second wave IR change agenda. The Government also plans big reductions in the number of awards, and substantial re-working of transmission of business and freedom of association provisions.
While the Federal Government, led by Prime Minister John Howard, today continued to try to direct the IR debate on to the benefits to workers of a strong economy, the Opposition, the ACTU, church leaders, and Family First Senator Steve Fielding again focussed on how the second-wave laws would strip away existing entitlements.
The CFMEU (construction division) in WA and four of its officials - secretary Kevin Reynolds, assistant secretary Joe McDonald and two organisers - are facing significant fines after construction company John Holland Group yesterday filed contempt of court proceedings against them in the Supreme Court.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics was justified in sacking an executive who manipulated the organisation's footy tipping competition to favour himself after game results became available, an AIRC full bench has ruled.
Virgin Blue discriminated against older applicants for flight attendant positions when it was accelerating its recruitment during a rapid growth phase in 2001-02, Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal ruled today.
The Opposition, the Catholic Church and Family First have all responded to the Federal Government's release of its WorkChoices document with criticism that the workers with least bargaining power will lose out under the second-wave proposals.
The award system could be significantly eroded under the WorkChoices arrangements announced yesterday by the Howard Government, according to Flinders University Professor of Law, Andrew Stewart.
Prime Minister John Howard and Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews yesterday revealed the steps they had taken to respond to concerns raised over their May IR policy announcement. But their WorkChoices booklet also makes it clear that the second-wave laws will go even further in some areas than first thought, including by extending the unfair dismissal exemption to redundancies; limiting what can be included in agreements; further reducing awards' relevance; and outlawing strikes in essential services.
The Federal Government today moved to get onto the front foot in the IR debate, beginning a new round of television advertisements and releasing a 67-page glossy document that responds to some of the concerns raised over its May policy statement.
The national secretary of the CFMEU's forestry division, Trevor Smith, has defended as above-board the $4m training package the Prime Minister committed to on the eve of last year's federal election, and said it was negotiated by industry, not the union.
