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As the ALP defended itself against the continued assault on its new IR policy by the Coalition and sectors of the business community, the CFMEU (mining & energy division) today maintained that mining giant BHP Billiton was running a political agenda in supporting AWAs.

Unions will be able to use bargaining to demand bargaining fees, require union fee deductions and restrict engagement of contractors and labour hire workers if a Rudd Labor Government is elected, according to Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey.

The ALP has denied watering down its AWA-abolition policy to prevent workers opting out of unfair agreements, but says it will consult with major employers before finalising the transitional arrangements for the individual contracts.

The ALP's IR policy, like the Work Choices legislation it would replace, risks an increased corporatisation of labour law by using the Constitutional powers enshrined by the High Court's Work Choices decision, according to the Dean of Law at the University of Sydney, Professor Ron McCallum.

In the wake of Labor releasing its IR policy, Shadow IR Minister Julia Gillard has sought to get business onside by promising it will be part of an advisory group to help to draft Labor's workplace legislation if it takes power this year.

The ACTU has welcomed the ALP's IR policy launched at the party's national conference yesterday, while conceding it is not all that unions wanted, as the federal government and business leaders warned it would damage the economy.

Labor's proposed Fair Work Australia would be obliged to review minimum wage rates annually, in time for a July 1 rise, and Federal Treasury would be required to inform the new body about the likely economic effects of adjusting minimum rates, if a Rudd Government takes power at this year's election.

A Rudd Labor Government could incorporate a judicial function in its proposed Fair Work Australia without breaching the Constitution, according to advice from senior counsel.

A Rudd Labor Government's IR system would provide a safety net comprising 10 legislated minima, plus up to 10 further minimum conditions within awards, the Opposition has announced today.

The assistant secretary of the WA branch of the CFMEU (construction division), Joe McDonald, will now face six counts of trespass next week after he was arrested again on Tuesday - this time for entering the Q-Con construction site in Perth.