In a major decision on labour hire, a full bench of the WA IRC has found that two workers on developer Gerry Hanssen's Perth projects were employees - not independent subcontractors as claimed by the labour hire firm that supplied them.
The Federal Court has ruled that employers can lawfully use stand down clauses when protected industrial action is disrupting operations, while it has also cast doubt on whether employer conduct during a bargaining period can constitute industrial action as defined in the Workplace Relations Act.
Despite union assertions that workers at a BHPB iron ore mine in the Pilbara are set to become the first to defeat an individual contract push in WA mining, the principal operating contractor at the site believes the mine will end up with both AWAs and a collective deal.
The FAAA and Qantas have agreed not to enforce provisions in their certified agreement requiring flight attendants to donate a day's annual leave to a leave bank after the OEA maintained it discriminated against non-union employees.
The AWU - which made a formal submission opposing the acquisition of Adelaide Brighton Ltd by Boral Ltd - has today welcomed the ACCC's decision to block the merger.
Holden Ltd's introduction of 14 weeks paid maternity leave has had a dramatic effect on mothers' return to work rates - lifting them from 65% to 100%, according to the company's HR director.
The AIRC full bench's interpretation of "industrial action" in yesterday's decision on redundancies at The Age could constrain the strategic use of s127 orders by unions to enforce agreements and awards, according to Flinders University Professor of Law, Andrew Stewart.
The NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has awarded $2500 in damages to a waitress who was sexually harassed when her employer asked her about her bra size and made other offensive comments.
The Federal Budget has provided more than $30m a year to set up the Australian Building & Construction Commission, while it has also funded a universal maternity payment of $3000 that will grow to $5000 in 2008.
