A betting person would put money on the answer being "yes" to the crucial question of whether key planks of the Work Choices regime are laws "with respect to corporations", according to a Sydney barrister.
The NSW IRC has today established a new right for regular casuals to convert to permanent employment, which will trigger a rush to insert the new standard into State awards before the Work Choices Act is due to take effect late this month.
The road to Canberra has been cleared for AWU national secretary Bill Shorten, with today's announcement by the ALP's Bob Sercombe that he was pulling out of the preselection race for his safe federal seat of Maribyrnong.
The news briefs published last night by Workplace Express inadvertently referred to Peter Ballard as a union delegate refused compensation after being dismissed. This was incorrect and has been amended.
The Leighton Kumagai Joint Venture will pursue penalties and damages against the CFMEU, after winning a Supreme Court injunction stopping the union from encouraging further strike action on the underground section of the Perth-Mandurah railway project.
No Work Choices Regulations until second half of March; NAB deal certified before Work Choices kicks in; and Federal Court refuses claim for non-economic loss for sacked shop steward.
Australian unions seeking an alternative regime to the Work Choices Act should not settle only for new representation rights, but seek regulated access to industry-wide bargaining, according to a British academic expert.
The AWU has increased pressure on Qantas to reject plans to shift hundreds of maintenance jobs offshore, commissioning opinion polling showing 87% of Australians oppose the move.
The AMWU is considering appealing against the certification of one of the first agreements struck in the Campaign 2006 manufacturing industry bargaining round, maintaining that the employer - Robert Bosch (Australia) Pty Ltd - didn't follow proper process.
The AIRC has issued a confidential s127 order to end this week's lockout of 20 workers refusing AWAs at Teys Bros abattoir in South Australia, as the ALP signalled plans to restrict migrant labour unless local workers are available.
