A new discussion paper by the Cole Royal Commission has floated the idea of developing a new standard national definition of "employee" that would encompass dependent contractors.
The IRC has rejected an AWA that discounted the award rate of pay by more than $2 an hour, in a ruling that clarifies the ground rules for approving substandard AWAs under the public interest test.
Stegbar workers locked out for the past seven days will return to work tomorrow, after the company reached in-principle agreement with unions and agreed to drop legal proceedings against the AWU.
Employers might be hampered from taking a tough stance where a picket line is affecting their workplace, after the NSW Court of Appeal upheld a finding that a Patrick Stevedores supervisor forced to cross a rowdy picket line suffered a psychological injury during the bitter 1998 docks dispute.
Workers employed by one of the world's largest call centre companies, TeleTech, have threatened to walk off the job for 24 hours next week unless the company delivers what the union claims is thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
A NSW IRC full bench will tomorrow hear a bid to stay interim orders that have prevented an employer organisation's members from offering s170LK federal non-union agreements.
The IRC is today hearing a bid by window manufacturer Stegbar, which is involved in a torrid bargaining dispute, to clear the way to pursue common law action against the AWU.
The CEPU will seek a pay rise of 4% a year over the next two years in its next bargaining round with Telstra, communications division secretary Colin Cooper confirmed today.
