Australians strongly believe that awards are the best way to set wages and conditions and that individual contracts favour employers, but also say employers and employees should negotiate pay directly, according to a national survey.
The Federal Government's Cole-based construction industry legislation could still get through the Senate tonight, while the second reading debate on the Better Bargaining bill resumed in the House of Representatives late this afternoon. Other IR bills set down before Parliament this week, however, look likely to be bumped down the list by legislation making way for the sale of Telstra.
The Federal Court has imposed a $2,500 penalty on the United Firefighters' Union of Australia and $500 on its Victorian secretary, Peter Marshall, for breaching an AIRC s127 order against work bans.
Glass supplies to the Australian car industry could run out within a week unless an industrial dispute over redundancy provisions at Pilkington's Laverton and Geelong plants in Victoria is settled, according to management and union leaders.
A casual labourer was victimised by his former employer when it refused to re-employ him on a new job because he had previously complained to HREOC and had threatened to lodge a further complaint, the Federal Magistrates Court has found.
Sixty-two percent of workers believe they would be worse off under individual contracts being promoted by the Federal Government and 86% support collective bargaining laws, according to polling results released by unions today.
National Basketball League players will be covered by a three-year agreement negotiated by the MEAA after a Full Bench of the AIRC today approved the deal, subject to variations in paternity leave provisions.
AIRC President Justice Geoffrey Giudice has mounted a spirited defence of his institution's record in setting minimum wages and has outlined a set of criteria for assessing the structure of the proposed Fair Pay Commission.
