The ALP and CPSU say the Federal Government is failing to live up to its own rhetoric on choice of agreement, after a Treasury body offered AWAs to its employees, despite almost 90% of them petitioning for a collective deal.
Construction head contractor John Holland has engaged a dozen employees under a new Work Choices employer greenfields deal for a major BHP Billiton port expansion project in the Pilbara.
The AIRC today recommended a return to work in one of the first cases against industrial action under Work Choices, in which unions sought to rely on State OHS laws and the ABCC unsuccessfully sought to intervene.
A cessation of industrial action this morning by LHMU members appears to have thwarted the first application for orders under Work Choices' s496 to halt industrial action at the Sydney site of international packaging and coatings manufacturer Valspar.
The Howard Government today accused Labor and unions of "irresponsible fear-mongering" for reporting claims of unwarranted dismissals since the commencement of the remaining Work Choices changes on Monday.
The AIRC would seek to be more user-friendly and responsive to its users' needs in the wake of the Work Choices changes, AIRC President Justice Geoffrey Giudice said yesterday.
A dispute between Qantas and its international pilots' union has been the first case listed to be heard by the AIRC under the new Work Choices legislative regime.
