Queensland's IRC won't be prohibited from certifying agreements that contain generous attraction and retention allowances for the male-dominated technical workforce in the State's stricken power industry, after a full bench found the provisions didn't fall foul of pay equity requirements.
An AIRC full bench has clarified how to calculate the value of an employer-supplied car when assessing whether an employee's pay exceeds the remuneration cap for unfair dismissal claims.
NSW's 14,400 police officers will begin voting soon on a new agreement with the State Government that provides a 16% wage increase over its four-year term plus death and disability insurance, while the states' 28,000 public sector nurses will receive 14% over the next 3.5 years after their pay dispute with the Government was put in the hands of the NSW IRC.
Manufacturing continues to be a male-dominated industry at all levels, but it is initiating changes that will help it adapt to the challenge of the tightening labour market, skills shortage and ageing workforce, according to a new equal opportunity agency report.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, will on Thursday make public the details of the Federal Government's IR agenda, after it was endorsed last night by Cabinet.
As Federal Cabinet this afternoon resumes considering its second wave of IR change, an AIG survey has revealed that large manufacturing companies strongly support the introduction of pre-strike ballots and measures to curb pattern bargaining.
Kemalex, the plastics manufacturer mired in a bitter bargaining dispute with the NUW that has led to a 26-day strike, has today broken its silence, saying it is being used as a political football and that it is not forcing employees to become individual contractors.
The ETU (Qld & NT branch) will spend more than $1 million over the next two years on campaigns against the Federal Government's proposed IR changes, with the first phase of action to begin next month.
