The Wire

In what may be its last test case , the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has delivered the goods for working parents. In a case brought by the Austalian Council of Trade Unions or ACTU, the Comission ruled that unpaid parental leave should be extended. And that parents’ have the right to work part time, until their children reach school age. But the ruling has only intensified the struggle between the unions and the federal government over workplace reform. The ACTU is already warning that workers may lose the new entitlements as the Prime Minister won’t guarantee that they’ll be legislated in the new Industrial Relations reform. Jenny Earle is a spokesperson for the Womens Electoral Lobby, which made submissions supportive of the ACTU’s case. She explained the ruling to Alma Mistry.