The CFMEU (construction division) in WA and four of its officials - secretary Kevin Reynolds, assistant secretary Joe McDonald and two organisers - are facing significant fines after construction company John Holland Group yesterday filed contempt of court proceedings against them in the Supreme Court.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics was justified in sacking an executive who manipulated the organisation's footy tipping competition to favour himself after game results became available, an AIRC full bench has ruled.
Virgin Blue discriminated against older applicants for flight attendant positions when it was accelerating its recruitment during a rapid growth phase in 2001-02, Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal ruled today.
The Opposition, the Catholic Church and Family First have all responded to the Federal Government's release of its WorkChoices document with criticism that the workers with least bargaining power will lose out under the second-wave proposals.
The award system could be significantly eroded under the WorkChoices arrangements announced yesterday by the Howard Government, according to Flinders University Professor of Law, Andrew Stewart.
Prime Minister John Howard and Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews yesterday revealed the steps they had taken to respond to concerns raised over their May IR policy announcement. But their WorkChoices booklet also makes it clear that the second-wave laws will go even further in some areas than first thought, including by extending the unfair dismissal exemption to redundancies; limiting what can be included in agreements; further reducing awards' relevance; and outlawing strikes in essential services.
The Federal Government today moved to get onto the front foot in the IR debate, beginning a new round of television advertisements and releasing a 67-page glossy document that responds to some of the concerns raised over its May policy statement.
The national secretary of the CFMEU's forestry division, Trevor Smith, has defended as above-board the $4m training package the Prime Minister committed to on the eve of last year's federal election, and said it was negotiated by industry, not the union.
A self-confessed "touchy-feely guy" has failed to overturn his dismissal for sexually harassing male and female employees he supervised at a Victorian Government juvenile justice facility, but his employer hasn’t got off scot-free, with the AIRC recommending it remedy a pervasive inappropriate culture.
Shadow IR Minister Stephen Smith says the five-year second wave transitional arrangements revealed by the Nationals will force small businesses to choose whether to incorporate for IR reasons, or stay unincorporated for tax reasons.
