C2002/353, Transcript of Proceedings [2002] AIRCTrans 1385 (26 April 2002)

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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS COMMISSION

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT O'CALLAGHAN

C2002/353

STORAGE SERVICES (WOOL SELLING BROKERS)
AWARD 1998

Application by Agribusiness Employers
Federation re clause 5 coverage of award

ADELAIDE

2.42 PM, WEDNESDAY, 10 APRIL 2002

Continued from 13.3.02

PN16

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Can I have what is in this case the appearance please?

PN17

MR T. KENNEDY: I appear on behalf of the National Union of Workers.

PN18

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Mr Kennedy, I note that Mr Platt, representing the applicant is not present at this hearing.

PN19

MR KENNEDY: That is right, if I might assist, your Honour, what has actually taken place since we last met. Before the last hearing the union wrote to Mr Platt setting out the following, that the national offices thought the position of our West Australian Branch in relation to the AEF application to vary the award and we noted that the branch had raised a number of concerns regarding the proposed applications as the State Award contains conditions which are superior to those contained in the Federal Award. We put a proposal to the AEF along the lines that: should the AEF be able to read in the lesser conditions in the Federal Award the union would find itself in a better position, possibly to support the AEF application after further consultation with our West Australian Branch, which has some stake in the matter.

PN20

Subsequent to that your Honour on 19 March, I forwarded to Mr Platt a copy of the correspondence that the union and the national office received in the West Australian Branch, outlining the important point for the issues that Graham J has identified as being the two awards. Now, that was on the exhaustive process because as I said to Mr Platt, that there were some other issues, but they had not been identified by the West Australian Branch for one reason and another. What I asked of Mr Platt is that: if he could have a look at the issues raised by the West Australian Branch and could he respond to the national office about where his members thought they could go with it in that light.

PN21

He has not been able to get back to me at this stage and part of the reason, I assumed, or I thought that might come out in today's proceedings, however, it appears that he is actually in Victoria at the moment by all reports. I haven't spoken to him since I sent this correspondence and we would, upon receiving his response to our proposal, depending on which way it went - if it went positively we would then seek to have further consultation with our West Australian branch and then we would be in a far better position to have a concrete view on the matter.

PN22

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr Kennedy. What I propose to do here is, noting that Mr Platt, representing the applicant is not present, is to adjourn the matter to a date to be fixed. I need to make it clear that given my diary at the present time, that may involve a delay once I receive advice from the parties.

PN23

MR KENNEDY: Well, your Honour, I may have made this point at the earlier hearing, the fact of the matter is that all the employees covered by this award Federally are covered by a Federally registered certified agreement that contains all the terms and conditions in that certified agreement. So the application by the AEF has no great urgency to it.

PN24

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Yes. No, look, I understand that and I'm simply making the point that a time for another hearing will need to be made well in advance of the actual hearing. Having said that I will adjourn the matter to a date to be fixed, I should also indicate to you, Mr Kennedy, that in the event that your negotiations with Mr Platt are such that the application is not likely to proceed, or certainly not likely to proceed by consent, I extend to you leave to apply to the Commission to have the matter bought on for some form of final determination, rather than it being left out as an adjourned matter for the indefinite and indeterminate future.

PN25

MR KENNEDY: Thank you, your Honour.

PN26

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I adjourn the matter on that basis, thank you.

ADJOURNED ACCORDINGLY [2.47pm]