Federated Engine Drivers' and Firemens' Association of Australasia Queensland branch, Union of Employees v Queensland Confederation of Industry Limited, Union of Employers and Others [1995] QIRC 112 (1995) 149 QGIG 29

28 QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRJAL GAZETTE (5 May, 1995 5 May, 1995] QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE 29 ########J;######/1###############/rlhl###############il#II### Qllf ENSl AND INDUSTRIAi RFLATION"i COMMISSION lndu.f/r1a/ Rela11 ons Act /99(} s. 144 application for variation I ederated l:ngine Omer..· and rircmens· As,ociation of l\ustrala.i.i Queensl.ind Branch. Union of F,mp loyees A:\() Queensland Confederation of lndu~try Limited. Union of Fmplo)'crs and Another f \o B./39 of 1995) QUARRV. CRUS IIEO STONE, SAND A:'\ D GRA \'EL ,,or IRYAW\RD- T\IE COMMISSION FR BOUGOURE 20 l\pril I 99~ Schedule - !lecond $8 liafety 1'.ct Adjustment - Opposition h) Employer Organisation Representing Various Quarries Application did not Comply with Principles Cenain I ests to l,c Met Negotiations Curren tly Proceeding with 3 l~mployers Applicant has not Satislil:d Required Tests - Application Refused lnis is an application by the Federated Engine Dmers· and Fin:mens· Association of Australasia Queeru.land Branch. IJnion of Employees (1-1:.DFA) for the payment of the 2nd $8 Safe ty Net Adjustment (SNA) at the enterprise level to certain named employers and to estabh-,h a Schedule to the A'"'ard m \,hich to record the orders issued b) the Co mmission at the enterprise le\el. lhc application seeks increases against 92 employers as listed in the proposed Schedule outlined m the application In su pport of the application Mr J. Coogan, for the I ederated Engine Drivers' and Firemen~• Association of Australasia Queensland Branch. Union of Emplo)ees. made a bncf submission and tendered the follo'"'1ng documen~ .- (a) A letter dated I June 1992 from the FEDFA to Pioneer Concrete (Qld) Pt)' Ltd seeking a wage increase o f 6° • pursuant to the Enterprise Bargaining Principles and a repl) doted 18 June 1992 from the Queensland Confederation of Industry Limited. L 1110n of [mplo)er. (QCI) indicating that the compan) \\1shed to defer negotiauon~ until 1s~UC) im oh mg mm1mum rates .id1ustments and the classification structure had hccn further progressed (h) Almost identical letters dated 19 August 1993 from the Fl.:DFA to the QC' !, l11e Crushed Stone As soc iation of Queensland. CS R Rcad}mi, Group. Boral Quarries and Pion eer ( oncrete (Qld) ad\ 1,mg that the I EDF'\ \\1,hed 10 be a pan} to an} Enterprise Bargaining Agreement in the Quarry and Associated Industry and seeking ad\ ice regarding the commencement of negotiations (c) A m.:rnorandum dated 2 1 January 1994 10 all FEDl·A members at "Pioneer Qu31T) Operations Jmdalee and <ihipping" ad\ ising ol the progn:,.., of ccnam negouauons and indicating that a further meeting \\Ould take place. \,h Y. D'Ath for The \ustrahan Worker-· l 'nion of I mployec~ Quccm,land ( '\ \\. l '), s1nted that her union hJd been progressing agreements with CSR on a si te by site basis and submitted that the application be not granted 111 respect of CSR. Mr G. l'lmer. for the QCI, opposed the apphcauon. I le suhmiucd the application did not comply with the relevant principles. He submined that the matter had 10 be addre\>ed on an emplo)er b) cmplo:i,er l,a,1>. \\hich had not been done I le funhcr submitted th at m respect of Pioneer Co ncrete (Qld) Pt) I t<l ccnain agreements, which included lhe F'EDrA. were in the course of be1nr signed. m re,,pcct of CSR Read)m1, a number of sue .igreement, existed and in respect of Ooral an agreement 111 respect of one ~lle was awaiting sig nature. I informed the panics that Agreement ( A5 -t 95. 1m oh ing the CSR Rcadymi:.. Group, was listed fo1 hear ing hcfore me on 10 May 199.S . Mr Coogan seemed unaware of a number of the agreements mcnuoned b~ \1r Po\,er and it seemed that other officiab of the Fl:DI-A had been mvohed 111 such mJtters. It \\ as emphasised b) Mr Po\\Cr that in order to access the 2nd S8 ')'I.\ at the cnterpnc;c le\el. ccnam tests ha\e to be met. In particular he referred to the follov.mg tests set out in the Declaration of Policy of 20 December 1994 of thi~ Commission:- ..( B) that the union applicant ha, genuine I) sought to reach an agreement with the employer but has been unsucces~f'u l: 1-11/06_ 1.0()(' -- 1 of 2 -- 30 QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE (C) lh at there is no likelihood that. within a reason ab le period. further conciliation or negotiati on will result in an agreemenl covering the employees concerned:·•. TI1c in fonnation placed before me by the ap pli canl clearly does not sati sfy these req uirements. Firstly. in relation to Pi oneer Concrele (Qld) Pt y Lid, CSR Readymix and Bora !, the action as evidenced by documents placed before me does not satisfy the requirements (B) and (C) aforemen ti oned. but in any event, at th e hearin g. I was in fom1ed that negotiations are proceeding with those panies and some agreements arc either a"aiting approval or awaiting signature. Clearly I could not be satisfied in tho se cases that there I no likelihood that further conciliation or negotiation wou ld not resu lt in an agreeme nt. Unfortunately. Mr Coogan seemed to be un aware of some of the progress a ll egedly made in relation to Pioneer Co ncrete. CSR Readym ix and Bora!. In relat ion to the other 89 employers listed in the applicat io n, there is reall y no material upon which I cou ld make the necessary find ings in relation lo th e tests (B) and (C) aforementioned. In my view the applicant has 10 satisfy the required tests in respect of each employer individually. I apprec iate it will be a time consuming task to satisfy s uch tests in respect of each em pl oyer , but that is what th e Declaration of Po licy req uires. I am left with no alternative but to refuse this application. The Commission or der~ accordingl y. R.W. BOUGOUR£, Com mi ssione r. Appeara11ces :- Mr J. Coogan fo r the Fede rated Engine Drivers' a nd 1-'iremens· Ass ociation of Australasia Queensland Branch. Un ion or Employees (FEOF/\). Ms Y. D'Ath fo r The Australian Worl.. ers· Union of Emplo}ees Q ue ensland (A WU ). Mr G. Power for th e Qu eensland Co nfede ration of In dustry Limi ted, Union of Employers (QCI). Operative Dat e: NIA Dec ision - Seco nd $8 SNA Rel eased: 20 April 199 5 #####11############################/1##/l###ll##llll##llll##IIIIII [5 May, 1995 5 May, 1995] QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRI AL GAZETTE 31 I 1 i j ; 14 906_ 1.DOC -- 2 of 2 --