The LHMU has attributed the resolution of a dispute with McGuigan Simeon Wines to an aggressive shareholder campaign, after the company backed down from its threat to terminate a South Australian vineyard's enterprise agreement.
A battle with unions might be looming at Pacific National, after the company unveiled a bargaining agenda focussed on boosting productivity, removing restrictive work practices, introducing performance-based pay and increasing the flexibility of rostering.
Some 2,000 Xstrata Coal mineworkers returned to work last night after a 24-hour wildcat stoppage, while their union is today launching a Federal Court action over retrenchments at the company's Bulga mine.
A senior AIRC member has raised concerns about the risk of reduced public accountability if the Commission allows electronic hearings to expand. He also lambasted the Cole Royal Commission for its "beat-up" when it criticised the AIRC's agreement approval processes.
Some 450 Primus Telecom employees have won a six week paid maternity leave entitlement under a proposed new agreement, while 750 workers at another telco have struck an agreement that mirrors that of Telstra.
In an important ruling on the scope of NSW's s106 unfair contracts jurisdiction, the State's IRC has reduced the probationary period of an employee working under an AWA and awarded him $20,000, after finding no constitutional or other barriers to doing so.
