AG2001/6533, Transcript of Proceedings [2001] AIRCTrans 3305 (29 November 2001)

AUSCRIPT PTY LTD
ABN 76 082 664 220

Level 7, ANZ House 13 Grenfell St ADELAIDE SA 5000
Tel:[phone] Fax:[phone]

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS COMMISSION

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT O'CALLAGHAN

AG2001/6533

APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE
OF AGREEMENT

Application under section 170LJ of the Act
by the National Union of Workers South
Australian Branch and Another for certification
of the Goodman Fielder Mills Limited Mile End (SA)
Enterprise Agreement 2001

ADELAIDE

2.35 PM, WEDNESDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2001

PN1

MR S. REARDON: I appear on behalf of the National Union of Workers.

PN2

MR D. AINGER: I appear on behalf of Goodman Fielder.

PN3

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Who is going to introduce this matter?

PN4

MR REARDON: I will, your Honour. This is, I believe, the sixth enterprise agreement that has been entered into the parties covering the mill. I will be reasonably brief in my submission, your Honour. At clause 12 of the agreement, the certified agreement provides for the avoidance of industrial disputes. The agreement also sees an introduction of some competency based training during the life of the agreement. There is also a trial being undertaken as a result of the enterprise agreement for a performance feed-back system, which will allow employees to have some career development, providing the trial goes well. That is a rough outline of the changes to it and I am happy to answer any questions you have. The union seeks that the agreement be certified today.

PN5

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr Reardon. Can you provide me with a little more information, from the union's perspective, in terms of the consultation process that occurred so as to proceed the vote on the agreement.

PN6

MR REARDON: I will just have to refer to the statutory declaration in the application because I was not officially involved in it but I understand there was a consultative committee in place at the workplace and there would have been ongoing meetings between the union and the employees on site for discussion about the agreement leading up to the voting on it.

PN7

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Now, I note the agreement applies to a number of casual employees. Can I be confident that those casual employees were incorporated in the various discussions leading up to the information being provided as a precursor to the vote.

PN8

MR AINGER: Perhaps I could help the Commission.

PN9

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Very well. Mr Ainger, if you are going to address that then I will postpone my question and wait for your information.

PN10

MR AINGER: All right.

PN11

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, Mr Reardon. There are a couple of other questions but it might perhaps be best if I wait for Mr Ainger's submissions before I ask you those, thank you. Mr Ainger.

PN12

MR AINGER: If the Commission pleases. I was just going to say just in terms of that question, the casual are permanent. They have been there for a regular basis for a number of months and in some cases even longer than that and they were certainly involved in the vote and certainly were consulted as part of the consultative process on site before the vote. As far as consultation, I should also add there were a number of meetings which took place between the union and the company and the negotiations went for a period of 3 to 4 weeks, so there was a lot of feedback to the employees on what was occurring.

PN13

In terms of the application, the company would certainly support the union's application. All of the objectives, which have been set out in the enterprise agreement, the company is very keen to ensure that those objectives are retained. There has been, as I said, a number of agreements which have preceded this agreement and the company certainly has been happy with how those agreements have actually taken place. There is one matter which was raised with me in terms of the actual documentation which I would just like to address.

PN14

In appendix A of the agreement, it has been brought to our notice that the export roster, there is reference in sub-clause (a) to schedule 1 of the agreement. As it turned out, the export roster, appendix A, has been taken from another document which did contain a schedule 1 which actually outlined a roster system so if it assists the Commission and perhaps it could go on the Commission's file, I would be more than happy to table that roster, if you so wish.

PN15

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I am happy to receive that roster, Mr Ainger.

EXHIBIT #A1 GOODMAN FIELDER MILLS LIMITED PRODUCTIVITY APPROVEMENT AGREEMENT 1998 SCHEDULE B WORK ROSTER

PN16

MR AINGER: This is the actual roster which applies when there is export activity at the mill and it has been working for a couple of years and all the parties are happy with that particular roster so it was going to be - there was a trial initially but this is the roster system which is in place at the moment.

PN17

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Mr Ainger, can I assume though, notwithstanding the absence of that schedule 1, that provisions and the employee understanding of the concept of 7 day export roster is such that it would be consistent with the previous 1998 agreement?

PN18

MR AINGER: That is correct. That is in exactly the same terms as what they have previously worked.

PN19

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Mr Ainger, I have a number of questions about the agreement. I perhaps need to preface that by saying they are not intended to trip up any of the parties or to bring undone the agreement in any way but rather reflect my desire that the provisions of the agreement, which might be capable of misinterpretation by someone reading it for it the first time, are set out clearly in this sort of forum, where there is agreement, rather than waiting for an occasion when there may not be agreement. Can I refer you, first of all, to clause 8 of the agreement, which is the wage increase clause and simply ask whether you are in a position to clarify for me the base upon which those percentage wage increases apply?

PN20

MR AINGER: The percentage apply to the actual base rate, the ordinary base rate.

PN21

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: The ordinary base rate is specified where?

PN22

MR AINGER: I am not sure whether it has ever been included in any of the enterprise agreements which have been registered or certified in the Commission.

PN23

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: You see, what I am trying to avoid is a situation where, ludicrous as it might sound, it has happened in the past, the parties are referencing a percentage wage increase without absolute agreement upon the base upon which that percentage then applies and I am just wanting to be absolutely sure that the parties are in agreement on that base and that that base is documented somewhere.

PN24

MS SOUTHON: It is documented in our payroll system.

PN25

MR REARDON: Your Honour, if I may refer to the appendix A export roster, just a little bit further down - halfway through the page there is a couple of rates there which I believe - I am not completely familiar with this agreement but the current base rate for rate of employee would receive a 38 hour week when not engage in a 7 day roster. There are two rates there for a miller and for a topman. I believe they would be the rates. It certainly would be desirable, from the union's point of view, to have a list of the classifications and the current rates of pay for those classifications.

PN26

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr Reardon. Mr Ainger, if I, subject to your answer to some of my later questions, were to ask the company to provide both the union and, indeed, the Commission, with a document that set out the existing base rates upon which the 4 per cent increase proposed to apply from 5 September 2001 would be founded, would that represent a major difficulty?

PN27

MR AINGER: It certainly would not, no. There would not be any difficulty at all. I should just add those rates which were mentioned there in the appendix for the export roster, I don't believe those base rates are the current base rates. I think there could be some value if the company actually forwarded to the Commission and also to the union, what the current base rates are, both prior to and after the 4 per cent.

PN28

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Can I suggest then that you perhaps forward or exchange that information with the union first of all so that when you forward that information to the Commission you can advise that it is agreed with the union.

PN29

MR AINGER: Yes.

PN30

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Very well. Now, before we leave the issue of wage rates, can I actually take you back to appendix A and in particular to provision B(1) which sets out wage rates for millers and topmen engaged on the floor shift 7 day roster and can I ask whether you can confirm to me that those rates also have applied to them the same percentage increases that are specified in clause 8 of the main component of the agreement.

PN31

MS SOUTHON: Yes, they do.

PN32

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I should perhaps explain, the reason I am asking that question is it appears those rates are all inclusive for an average number of hours.

PN33

MR AINGER: Yes, they are.

PN34

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Sometimes, in those situations, an all inclusive rate has a different method or is subject to a different method of calculation and wage increases and hence, as I said, it wasn't a trick question but rather one that I was anxious to clarify now. Look, it might be easier, rather than forcing you to answer that question now, if I asked you to incorporate the answer to that issue in the correspondence.

PN35

MR AINGER: Yes.

PN36

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Can I take you to clause 12 of the agreement, which is the dispute resolution process, and it may be that Mr Reardon assists in answering this question, my question there is one of asking what situation applies in the event that an employee, who is not a member of the union is involved in an individual dispute because step two and then step three and four seem to provide for the involvement of the union. Now, I appreciate all of your employees may in fact be members of the union but one or more may not be and hence I am simply seeking some information about what sort of process applies in that respect.

PN37

MR REARDON: Your Honour, obviously the reason why there is reference to a union delegate and also other union officials in dispute procedures like this is the union is very keen to have our members represented at all stages if there is a dispute. We would not be seeking to force ourselves upon an employee who choses not to be a member of the union so therefore if there was an employee at the site who is not a member of the union, they would still be able to take the matter up directly with their supervisor and we would not be seeking to be involved.

PN38

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: A number, Mr Reardon, a number of agreement provisions have the phrase: or other representative incorporated in them so that the employee may access the union or in the event they are not a member of the union, another representative. I just wonder whether I might have comment, perhaps firstly from Mr Ainger and then from you in that respect.

PN39

MR AINGER: Certainly from the company's perspective, if a person was not a member of the union and they had a dispute that needed to be resolved, certainly the company would ask that person whether they wish to have a representative present. As it turns out, if they were a member of the union, certainly within their rights to have a union delegate but if they were not a member of the union, the company will give those people the opportunity to have actually another representative to represent them on that occasion.

PN40

We also, I should add to, as well as just the resolving, I suppose what you would say industrial relation type matters, we also have a dispute resolution process for issues to do with discrimination, equal opportunity, those sorts of matters, where people are aware that there is a due process that they can follow. We have contact people on site and they can resolve issues and disputes through that process. So I suppose what we would say is whilst there is certainly most, if not all of the people on site are union members, if there wasn't a union member and certainly even a member of staff, that they still have an opportunity to resolve disputes through that type of process.

PN41

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I presume that process is documented?

PN42

MR AINGER: Yes, it is.

PN43

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: It is, and available to employees?

PN44

MR AINGER: Correct.

PN45

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, a final question, if I could, please, Mr Ainger? Can I take you to clause 16 of the agreement which relates to Labour Hire casuals and simply ask you to clarify for me, that clause provides that, effectively:

PN46

Labour Hire casuals are engaged on the same wage rates and conditions provided for in this agreement for casual employees.

PN47

Now, that statement is referencing, I presume, back to the wage rates' provisions?

PN48

MR AINGER: Back to the wage rate' provisions but also referencing back to the provisions of the underlying award within the industry, which provides for conditions for casuals.

PN49

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you, it is just that I couldn't anywhere in the agreement that - - -

PN50

MR AINGER: No, that is right, no.

PN51

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: - - - casuals were specifically referred to.

PN52

MR AINGER: Yes.

PN53

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you.

PN54

MR AINGER: It also is something which, I suppose, has arisen in the past where the union was reasonably keen to have a comprehensive agreement for this particular site but through various discussions with the union it has been seen to be appropriate just to keep a core document, which is this enterprise agreement, and retain the provisions of the underlying milling industry award.

PN55

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. The Goodman Fielder Mills Limited Mile End (SA) Enterprise Agreement 2001 is, in my view, an agreement which has been reached through a process which is clearly consistent with that outlined in section 170 of the Workplace Relations Act of 1996. The agreement was made available to employees who were appropriately informed, such that they could make a reasoned vote in support of it. The agreement contains the necessary dispute resolution procedures. It is of a duration envisaged by the Act and it clearly passes the no-disadvantage test. I would propose to certify the agreement, I note that Mr Ainger has agreed to consult with the NUW over the base upon which wage rates are to be founded and to provide advice to the Commission confirming that understanding.

PN56

I would indicate that I will certify the agreement from the date upon which I received that advice and send out to the parties, shortly after that, a copy of that certificate. Now, in doing that can I clarify, Mr Ainger, that a delay, a short delay in the actual certification of the agreement is not going to occasion anyone any difficulty in this respect?

PN57

MR AINGER: No, that is correct, there certainly won't be any disadvantage for a short delay to the members and the people covered by this agreement.

PN58

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, it remains for me to indicate that, whilst the agreement has a dispute resolution provision in it, I would be very optimistic that you will not need to use that and I wish both the union and its members and, indeed, the company every success in operating under this arrangement. I adjourn the proceedings on that basis.

ADJOURNED INDEFINITELY [2.54pm]

INDEX

LIST OF WITNESSES, EXHIBITS AND MFIs

EXHIBIT #A1 GOODMAN FIELDER MILLS LIMITED PRODUCTIVITY APPROVEMENT AGREEMENT 1998 SCHEDULE B WORK ROSTER PN16