Three years since the eruption of one of the most bitter coal disputes of the last decade, unions at Rio Tinto's Hunter Valley No.1 mine in NSW are today holding report-back meetings with workers on a deal struck with the company earlier this week.
While maintenance unions at Godfrey Hirst in Geelong have seized on developments in the Federal Court yesterday as a blow to contracting out, the company maintains they're misrepresenting what is really happening.
A senior financial market employee who was offered one month's pay plus part of his previous year's bonus when made redundant - but then received nothing because he refused to sign a deed of release - has won a much bigger payout in the NSW IRC.
CFMEU National Secretary John Maitland told the protest meeting outside the World Economic Forum that unions would be continuing their worldwide campaign against Rio Tinto.
The Federal Court has refused to stop Ansett from again locking out 13 flight engineers, but has warned the airline that a further lockout attempt might leave it open to a breach of contract action.
In a major development in Campaign 2000, the metal industry unions have withdrawn the protected bargaining notices that the AiG was seeking to suspend - ending their right to take protected action but at the same time stymieing a test case on the legality of pattern bargaining.
A WA ALP government would allow statutory individual contracts struck under existing IR laws to run their full term, but only if they met a higher benchmark.
An important High Court decision has upheld an employer's liability for a worker's incapacitating stroke - even though it was common ground that her work was not a contributory factor.
