Unions will hold their next major anti-Work Choices protest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 30 under a deal between the VTHC and the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Some 2,700 employees of Coles Myer subsidiary OfficeWorks have won a 3.5% annual pay rise under a proposed new deal with the SDA that gives the company more rostering flexibility during peak times.
Major construction player John Holland was the first company to lodge a Work Choices employer greenfields agreement, and it has since gone on to register five more.
Stevens to replace Macfarlane as Reserve Bank governor; Coalition MPs won't own Work Choices, says ALP; and AMIEU calls for tighter enforcement of foreign work visas rules.
The AIRC has dismissed an appeal by the NSW branch of the TWU against a ban on industrial action, in a decision that asserts Work Choices' authority over state-registered unions and emphasises the flexibility of s496 orders.
Less than a fortnight after Prime Minister John Howard told the small business community that no one would benefit more than it from Work Choices, a survey has found that 40% of small businesses believe the legislation is unfair to employees, while only 9% said they are planning to use it to change employment, pay or conditions.
Australia requires further simplification of its IR system and should consider tax credits for low-paid workers to allow for lower minimum wage increases in the future, according to the OECD.
The AiG has proposed a "cautious" $14-a-week increase in all minimum award pay rates in its submission to the Fair Pay Commission, releasing new survey results showing small businesses are hardest hit by safety net wage rises.
The ACCI supports the Fair Pay Commission granting a "moderate" pay increase that is restricted to workers at the federal minimum wage, currently $484.40 or $12.75 an hour.
The DEWR's submission to the Fair Pay Commission supports a minimum wage increase but refuses to cite a quantum, while its consultant's report provides the new pay-setting body with a handy rule of thumb: Every 1% rise in minimum wages cuts 52,300 jobs and pares economic growth by 0.33%.
