The controllers' strike that threatened to shut down the rail system in Sydney and surrounding areas on Monday is off, with unions and the SRA finally reaching agreement on a new EA after hours of intensive negotiations today.
In the wake of its in-principle decision last month to remove junior rates for employees aged 18 and 19, New Zealand's Coalition Government has been seeking public opinion about increasing the rates for 16 and 17 year olds, who currently get 60% of the adult minimum.
The MBA in South Australia has withdrawn from the latest bargaining round in the state's construction industry, saying employers could not afford the CFMEU (construction division)'s claim of 20% over three years plus hefty increases to superannuation and redundancy.
Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith will proceed with his interim taxpayer-funded employee entitlement safety net scheme for the next three years whether the states cooperate or not, after he rejected an alternative proposal for an insurance scheme as "costly, impractical and ineffective".
Average weekly ordinary time earnings have accelerated steeply in the February quarter, with trend growth at 1.1%, according to preliminary data from the ABS.
In another attempted use of the WR Act's freedom of association provisions by a union against an employer, the CFMEU (mining & energy division) is claiming BHP acted unlawfully when it withdrew a job offer to a redundant worker after he refused to hand back his termination payout.
