Apprentice sackings: workchoices at work

Two South Australian apprentice electricians are at the centre of a pivotal test case that has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of young workers across Australia.

Unions SA says the men were unlawfully sacked on Monday – the day the Federal Government's new workplace laws, WorkChoice, took effect.

And the peak union body says it will pursue the matter through the court system until the matter is resolved.

The action centres on whether apprentices – SA has 34,500 apprentices and trainees – can be sacked without warning under the new laws.

Moonta apprentice electricians Greg Garrard, 20, and Rob Elkson, 19, say they were sacked "without warning" from Mildwaters Trade Centre, at Kadina, on Yorke Peninsula.

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