AG2001/5650, Transcript of Proceedings [2002] AIRCTrans 123 (3 January 2002)

AUSCRIPT PTY LTD
ABN 76 082 664 220

Level 2, 16 St George's Tce, PERTH WA 6000
Tel:[phone] Fax:[phone]

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS COMMISSION

COMMISSIONER O'CONNOR

AG2001/5650

APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION
OF AGREEMENT

Application under section 170LK of the Act
by Works Infrastructure Pty Ltd for
certification of the Works Infrastructure
Pty Ltd and Statewide Kerbing Agreement 2001

PERTH

10.17 AM, THURSDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2001

PN1

MR C. GIBSON: I appear on behalf of Works Infrastructure Pty Ltd.

PN2

THE COMMISSIONER: Tell us about your agreement.

PN3

MR GIBSON: Commissioner, the company seeks certification of the agreement under section 170LK of the Act. The agreement replaces an EFA that was taken out in 1994 by the company operating under a previous ownership and name of WA Gravel and Paving Pty Ltd. That EFA, as I said, was registered in 1994 and has remained on foot since its expiry in 1996. That particular EFA contained no wage increase mechanism, it was based on the same award, the AWU Construction and Maintenance Consolidated Award of 1987, and whilst the EFA contained much of that award, as indeed does this agreement, it has been out of date for some significant time and the company sought, with its employees, to replace that EFA with a more appropriate document for the company's business.

PN4

That is the document which is before you, Commissioner. Works Infrastructure previously operated under the name of WA Gravel and Paving Pty Ltd. It was bought some years ago by CSR. And a couple of years ago was bought by the Downer Group which recently amalgamated with Evans Deakin Industries and is now known as the Downer EDI Group. The company is engaged in primarily civil contracting. And includes the trading entity of Statewide Kerbing as a trading name. And the agreement covers part of the single business in that it covers all of those operational employees engaged in the civil contracting side of the business and the kerbing side of the business.

PN5

In the statutory declaration provided to the Commission, we dealt with all of those matters that the Commission must be satisfied with in relation to the certification of the agreement. I am prepared, Commissioner, to go all through all of that, if the Commission so requires. However, we also provided, as part of the statutory declaration, a detailed no disadvantage test which would provide information to the Commission that the agreement is reasonably unremarkable except that in this instance, it provides significant wage increases for some employees that haven't had wage increases since 1994.

PN6

Largely, the agreement is based on an around the relevant award which is a 187 AWU Construction and Maintenance Award as consolidated. So if it please the Commission, we are seeking certification. If you wish, I am happy to deal with all of those matters that the Commission requires to be satisfied with, although we believe that they have already been dealt with in the stat. dec.

PN7

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes. No, I have been through it, thanks, Mr Gibson. This is an application for certification of an agreement pursuant to section 170LK of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 by Works Infrastructure Pty Ltd trading as Statewide Kerbing and its employees. The agreement is between a constitutional corporation and its employees who are to be covered by the agreement. The agreement covers part of a single business award being the AWU Construction and Maintenance Award 1987. The agreement, in accordance with section 170XA, does not disadvantage in relation to their wages and conditions. The agreement has provisions for settling industrial dispute. The agreement is for a fixed term.

PN8

The agreement has been genuinely approved by a valid majority. Employees were provided with a copy of the agreement 14 days prior to a ballot. An application for certification was lodged within 21 days of approval. All the statutory requirements necessary for certification have been met. As a consequence, I will certify the agreement to be operative from 20 December 2001 and remain in force until 20 December 2004. The matter stands adjourned. Thank you.

ADJOURNED INDEFINITELY [10.22am]