A full bench of the NSW IRC has flowed-on the federal reasonable hours test-case provision to state-covered employees, giving them the right to refuse to work unreasonably long hours.
In two separate drug and alcohol cases, a WA employee dismissed for refusing a urine test has won her unfair dismissal appeal, and the federal IRC has extended a policy trial at a NSW smelter.
In an important ruling, the AIRC has found it has the power to direct employers who intend to make an agreement to involve their employees' union in negotiations.
AWU's Terry Muscat dies; Hartcher back as NSW's Shadow IR Minister; six weeks paid parental leave for all WA public sector workers; and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott and the AWU's Bill Shorten to put on the gloves.
The Australian union movement can draw some comfort from a UK study on the partial revival of unions there - the catch being that it took a change of Government to start clawing back lost ground.
An AIRC full bench has found the Commission has broad powers under s170LW to sort out differences using the dispute resolution procedures in enterprise agreements.
It is "intellectually insubstantial" and "insulting" to view paid maternity leave as the solution to the challenge of balancing work and family, according to Prime Minister John Howard.
Qantas and the FAAA's international division have reached in-principle agreement after a torrid bargaining tussle, while the airline has today announced it will make 1,000 of its 35,000 employees redundant.
Psychological testing company says regulation needed; AWU consent required before MIM changes rosters; Fewer than one in 20 agreements address absenteeism; No funding of work and family package in May Budget; Five years late unfair dismissal claim terminated; and Big email/internet abuse investigation in DVA.
An AIRC full bench has today opened the way for employers to use the Workplace Relations Act's public interest test to win approval for substandard short-term agreements designed to help them cope with substantial change.
