Australian Services Industrial Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) v The Association of Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia, Queensland, Union of Employees [1993] QIRC 368 (1993) 144 QGIG 414

414 QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE [1 5 October, 1993 #################################################### QUEENSLAND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION Industrial Relations Act 1990 s. 264 - appl ication for a declaration of community of interes t s. 265 - appli ca tion for approval to submi t a proposed amalgamation to ba llot s. 267 - appli ca tion for exemption from ballot Austral i an Services Industrial Un io n of Emp loyees (Queensland Branch) AND The Association of Arch itects, Engineers, Surveyors and Draughtsm en of Australi a, Queensland, Un ion of Em pl oyees (No. U26 of 1993) CHIEF IND U STRIA L COMMISSION ER HA LL 27 September 1993 Application for Approval for Submission to Ba llot of a Proposed Amalgamation - Appl i ca ti on for Exempt ion from Ba llot - Appl icat ion for a Declaration of Communi ty of Interest - Consideration of Relevant Factors - No Requ irement that a Substantial Number of Each O rganisation 's Members be El igible to Jo in the Other - Leave to Alter Proposed " Yes" Sta tement Gran ted - Opening and Clos ing Date for Ba llot fixed . DECISION O n 5 August 1993 the Austral i an Serv i ces Industrial Un ion of Emp l oy ees (Queensland Branch) (hereinafter ca ll ed "ASU") and The A ssoc i at ion of Arch it ects, En gi n eers, Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Aust ra lia, Q uee nsland, Union of Em ployees (hereinafter ca ll ed "AAESDA") jo intly appli ed under s. 265 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 for approval for submi ss ion to ba llot of a proposed amal ga m at i on of the two industri al organi sat io ns . An applicat ion un der s. 264 for a community of interest declaration w as lodged with the ap pli ca tion under s. 265. Addi ti onally the ASU lodged an appli ca tion under s. 267 fo r exemption from the requirement that a ballot be he ld in relation to th e proposed amalgamation. That applicati on was lodged at the same time as the s. 264 and s. 265 applications. APPROVAL FOR SUBMISSION O F AMALGAMATIO N TO BALLOT Having heard M r Payne (Sol icitor) for the App licants and h av ing considered the attachments to the application I am sa ti sfied that:- (a) the proposed amalgamation does not involve the reg istrati on of an as sociation as an organi sa tion, and (b) a pe rson who is not eligi ble for membership of one or other of the ASU or AAESDA wi ll no t be el igible /or membership of the proposed amal gam ated org an i sat ion immediately af te r the amalgamation takes efiect, an d {cl the proposed alteration of the name of t he A SU to the Au st ralian Servi ces Ind us tri al Union of Emp l oyees (Queensland Local Government, Energy, Ports, Information Technology, Soc ial and Communi ty Services Branch ), will not result in the amal ga m ated organisation having a name tha t i s the same as the name of another organi sa tion or is so si milar to the name of another organ is ation as to be I ikely to ca use con fus ion, and (dl the proposed deregistration of A AESDA comp li es w i th the Act and is not ot he rw i se contrary to law, and (e) that the proposed alterations to the rules of t he ASU comply w it h, and are not contrary t o, the Ac t and the awards made and the ag ree m en ts registered and certifi ed thereunder, and are not o th erwi se contrary to law. I consent to su bm i ss ion of the ama lgama ti on to ballot. DECLARAT ION RE COMMUNI TY O F INTEREST Havi ng re ad the affidavit of the Sec retary of the AS U (Mr Se l by) and the Pre si dent of AAESDA (Mr Buckle y), I am satis fied that:- (a) a substantial number of mem be rs of AAES DA are eligi ble to become a member of AS U; (b ) a subs tantial number of members of ASU are elig ible to become a member of AA ESDA. I am therefore required by s. 264(5) to find t ha t there i s a community of interes I between the t wo industrial organi sat ions and by s. 264(4) am required so to declare. It is appropriate to add that in my view either fi nding (a) or fin di ng (b) standing alone wou ld have triggered the obliga ti on to gran t the declarat ion. Section 264(5)(a) does not require that a substanti al number of members of each organ i sa ti on be eligible to join the othe r. EX EMP TION FROM BALLOT By an affidavit sworn 4 August 1993, Robert Wa rren and Raymond Se lby, Presi dent and Secretary res pectively to the ASU, depose that the membership of the ASU at 30 June 1993 was 9,990. Annexed to the affidavit is a t ru e copy of AA ES DA 's m ost recent membership return to the Industrial Reg i st ra r. It asser ts a membership of 701 as at 7 January 1993. M r Warren and M r Se l by depose that they h ave made en quiri es of AAESDA which satis fied them that ci rc umstances h ave not changed. Th e total number of members wh o coul d be admitted to the ASU on or because of the amalgamation does not therefo re exceed 25 % of the number of members of t he ASU at the date of the application. I am not aware of any special ci rcum sta nces wh ich would justify re fusa l of the exemption sought. I grant t he ASU exemption from ba llo t. "YES" STATEMENT The original proposed " Yes" STATEMENT asserts that t he ballot pa per w ill be completed by in se rting "YES" or "NO " in a bl an k bo x. T he STATEMENT has been ov ertak en by other developments. In fac t, t he form issue d (Industrial Relati o ns Regul at ion s. 3.28) wi ll require compl et i on by placing a mark in a box adjacent to "YES " or in a box adjacent to "NO". M r Payne for the Appl icants see ks leave to al te r t he STA TE MENT. As altered t he STATEMENT w ill take the form at Exh ib it Pl. Pursuant to s. 280(1) I grant that leave. I doubt that it is necessary to grant approval for the sketch of the ball ot paper or the use of ticks and boxes, bu t to put the matter beyond do ubt I expressly grant permission under s. 280(8). BA LL OT DA TE S I fix 8 October 1993 as the opening date of the ba llot and 22 October 1993 as th e closing date of the ballot. I recommend t ha t th e ba l lo t close at 10.00 a.m. on 22 Oc tober 1993. DECLARATIONS AND ORDERS 1. Pu r sua nt to s. 264 I declare tha t I am sa ti sfi ed that there is a community of in te res t between the AS U and AAESDA in rel at ion to their industrial in te rest s. 2. Pursuant to s. 265 I approve lhe submission of the amalgamati on to ba llot. 3. Pursuant to s. 280 I approve the use of a Ye s STATEMENT in the form of Exh ibit Pl including the u se of ti cks and boxes and the reproduc ti on oi a form of ba llo t paper. 4. Pursua nt 10 s. 267 I exempt the ASU fr om the req uirement that a ballot be hel d of its memb ers in relation to the proposed amal ga mation. 15 October, 1993 ] QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE 5. Pu rsuant to s. 278 I fi x 8 October 1993 as the opening date of t he ballot and 22 Oc tober 1993 as the closing date of the ba llot. D.R. HALL, Chief Indust ri al Commissioner. A ppearances:- M r J. Payne of Estw ick an d Wh ite, So licitors, for bo th App li cants and with him M r R. Selby in the case of the Australian Serv i ces Industri al Union of Emp loyees (Queensl and Branch) and M r I Buckl ey in t he case of The A ssoc iation of Architect s, Engi n ee rs, Su rveyors and Draughtsme n of Australia, Queensland, Union of Emp loyees. M r D Gottke for the Queensland Electoral O ffi ce. Operative Da te : NIA Decision - Sub mi ss ion to Ba llot Approved Rel eased : JO September 1993 ############ # ########## ########## ########## ###### ### 41 5 -- 1 of 1 --