Australian Railways Union of Employees Queensland Branch v Queensland Rail [1993] QIRC 465 (1993) 144 QGIG 859

858 QUEENS L AN D GOV ERN ME , T I DUSTRIA L GAZETTE I 10 December. 1993 10 D ece mber, 1993] QUE ENS L AND GOV ERNMENT 1ND US TR1 AL G AZETTE 859 ##l###################iR######## # ############## ## ### QUFFNSLAND INDUST RIAL RELATIONS CO MMI SSIO N /nd11mia/ Rela11ons Acr 1990 s. 131 - applicauon ior vartdt ,on Australian Railways U nion of Employees Queensla11d Branch A 0 Queensland Rai l (No. 837 of 1993) RAILWAY AW ARD - STATE CO MMI S'.:IIO NER DL M l''.:IEY 2'l November 1993 Allowance - Cash Handf,ng Allowance - New Allowance - Wage f1xa1,on Principles - Change in Worl.. Value - Additional Respo 11s1bil i1i es - Application Granted. DE CISION The applicant in this matter, the Australi an Railways Union of Employees, Qu ee nsland Branch (ARU) see ks a variation to the Rail way Aw.ird - State by inserting a new provision to cl ause 14 of schedule 2 of the aw,ud as follows (Amended by consent):- (6) Cash 11andling Allowance, M otor Truck Drivers - When a motor truck driver Is required 10 undertake cash transactions as μarl of the d el ivery and collection of freight, suth dn emp loyet> shall be μaid an allowance of $4 A6 per we!'k" In support oi 1h1s appl 1cat1 on the ARU rnn ten ds t ha1 1n 1991 Queensland Rai l(QR) ofticially launched Q· li nk, the busin ess section responsible for 1he collec11un, 1ranspo 11 a1 ion and delivery of small freight 1hrough 48 distribution centres scallf.'red over Queensland l his new in1 t1at 1ve fo ll owt>d asse~smcn ts by QR and co ns iderat ion of wheth<>r to u se rnn tracto rs or QR truck drivers. The inittal as sessment w as followed by In depth analyses at a number ot loc al1t ,es to determ1nP the best method of collPCtion and delivery. The oulcome ot lhc processr~ mer11ioncd above w as tha1 Q R frlt it was advan!ageous 10 the Q link busine5s to have th e door to door c.olfect1on and delivery 01 rreight handled bv QR truck drivers at so me locauon\ A~ J 1e~ult oi this new initi,ttive Q R truck drivers art> now requ ired to handle rash, some1h ing they did not do before. The ARU contends that the application be1ore the Co mmis~1on to crearc- a cash handling allow.ince does not rnn flict wi th the Commission ', princiμlcs as th ey rela1e to the c, tabli shment of new al lowances (ref 139 QGIG 375) Further arguments v.ere advanced by the applicant ,md u Is not my intention to can~as them In this dec1~1on Suffic<> to say however, that an emphasis was placed on tw o compon en l s, ris k an d res pons,bi lity. The quantum propcsed in this application h as its genes,s in the Carting Trddes A\,a rd - Northern and Mackay D1v1s•ons . Cmp loyees r rquired 10 handle moner under th e terms of this awa rd are paid 1he follo wi ng additiona ra1es: - Amounts handled Uμ to $20 .. . O ver $20 but no l exceeding $200 Ovl'r $200 but not exceeding $600 Over $600 bu t not exceeding $ 1000 .... . Over SI 000 but nol exceed mg S1 200 .94c $1.88 $3.38 $4 86 $6.56 lhe ,cale continues to ovPr S2000 anc1 provides tor an Jllowancc 01 $9 90. Mr Doogan ior tlie ARL contended that th e parties (ARU and Q R) exammcd th e level of business in so far as door to door deliveri es and collect io ns at a selection of thr locali tie~ involved Jnd the parties ag re ed that a single payment of $4 .86 wou ld be appropriate On the other hand Mr Butler 1or QR acknowledges thdt the su mmary or Pvents ouIl1ned by t he dpplican1 a re accurate an d in support of the appli ca ti on the ro tlow ing comment was n1ade that I regard as signi ficant as i t influences th e f111al outcome of this matter:- "the resp onsibili ties as~oci atcd with a pa id rates award we re not 10s 1 1n th is case and certainly Queensland Rail invesligated all aspects of the curren t case, including 1he Comm,~s,ons prin ci ples before supporting the ARU claims. Queen\land Ra il Is of a view that the change In the work ing cond111ons of thr drivers 1n question, es pecially resulting irom 1he increased sec urity needs, warrants the payn,cn r of a iair and reasonable allowance.". (underlining mine). co,·cws,o." H av ing co ns idered the contents of the app lica tio n prior rn the hearing on 19 July 1993 and 1h e submissions maJc d i that hea ring I ques1ioned the parties with respect to what may be ,egarded a~ a sk ill iactor ass oci ated with the allo\,ance in question .1nd second ly the iact tha1 the parties had entered into an enterpr ise ag reemeni with a com mit ment to no further claims and the fac1 1ha 1 the ag reemen t should be read in conjunction with the Award. M r Doogan has responded by advising tha t th e parties invest iga ted the matter~ I rai sed . They exp l<1 incd the ahrmatives and came IO a common conclusion. Furthermore, I was informed that the parties are looking at all allowan ces on a "time being" basis because all allo>\ ances are t he subject of review bcl\-. een the panies at this point 111 11me. It Is therefore in rn mbent on me to examine the w<1gc fi xing principl es reterred 10 by the parti e~ in so iar a~ 1he establishment of new allo,,ances are concerned. The decision ol th e Comm1 ~s1 on (S1 ate Wage Case) 30 IJnuary 1992 QGIG Vo l t 39 p. 375 and under the heading "The P1inc iplcs" deals with the es tablishment of " New Allowances":- "lal New a llowances to compensate ior the reimbursement of exp en ses incurred may be awa rded where appropri a1e ha ving regard to su ch expenses. (bl No other new al lowances shall ue created unless changes 1n work have occurred or new ,,orlc or conditions ha,e arisen where changes have occurred or ne w work and conditions have ansrn, the question of a new al lowance, ii Jny, shall be determined in accordance wi th the relevdnt Princi ple T he relevant Principle 1n this context may be work value changes or Fi rst Awards and r xtensions to l x1sti ng Awa rds Principl e. ". In 1h1s mauer the applicant con tends 1ha 1 there has been a change 10 work value as a result of the addi11on al respons1b1l1ties imposed on truck drivers to collect ca sh and be accountable for i ts sa fe k ee pi ng and re mi ttance to QR an d the res ponden t Jgrees wuh this con lention From the Commissions point of view I am satisfied tha1 1he granting of the appl1 ca 11on wou ld not offend the princ,ple p re vi ously referred to as I am sa tbt icd that the drive rs have been giv en a 1ask to perform thdt would constitute new wo rk and tha t different condition, to that which previously existed have arisen. I am also persuad ed to my ultimate conclusion by the fact th at the appli ca n1 and resp onden1 ag ree on the circumstances 1ha t have lea d to this aμpl ic at ion, the add i11ona l respon s1 bi lihes impc sed on the dri\e r and the quantum sought. The rr fore, I am ol 1he opIn1on tha1 todav·s industrial cl,mate encour.iges the parties to negotiate t0\\ards agreed positions and that havm11 been achi ev ed In this matter wi thout {J fien dmg the wage fixation pri nci ples in any way the appli cat ion w i ll be gran t ed wi th the t'>.cep ti on th dt the operdtive date w ill be the commencement of the first pdy penod after 19 Jui} 1993. the d.ite on \\h1 ch !he m,mer iirst came before the Comm1ss1on. The Commission ordrrs accordingly. -- 1 of 2 -- 860 QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE [10 December, 1993 H. DEMPS EY, Commi ss ioner. Appearances:- Mr 0. Doogan for the Australi an Rail ways Un io n of Employees Queensland Bra nch. Mr T. Bu tler, w i th him Mr P. Lucas tor Queensl an d Ra il. Operati ve da te: First pay period after 19 Ju ly 1993 . Decision - Cash handling all owance Re l ea sed : 30 November 1993 ################ #################################### I \ I II II I 10 Decem be r, 1993] QUEENSLAND GOVE RN MENT IND US TRIAL GAZETTE 861 -- 2 of 2 --