AG2003/5695, Transcript of Proceedings [2003] AIRCTrans 2958 (15 July 2003)

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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS


O/N 3516

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS COMMISSION

COMMISSIONER SIMMONDS

AG2003/5695

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF CERTIFIED
AGREEMENT

Application under section 170MC of the Act
by Castricum Brothers Pty Ltd and Another
for the extension of the nominal expiry date
of the Castricum Brothers Pty Ltd Dandenong
and the Australasian Meat Industry Employees
Union Victorian Processing Agreement No 3, 2000

MELBOURNE

10.21 AM, TUESDAY, 1 JULY 2003

PN1

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, the application is made by - - -

PN2

MR F. McMAHON: Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner, in accordance - thankfully, with the outcome of the conference we were able to proceed fairly quickly and Castricum Brothers, with the co-operation of the AMIEU and Mr Davey, were able to explain to employees the circumstances as they were and the intent to proceed with a trial and for that trial to, in fact, begin. It was necessary for the agreement as it was to be varied, however, it had passed its nominal expiry date and we sought from the AMIEU and the employees agreement that we would, in the first instance, bring the agreement back to life, so to speak by extending its expiry date to the full three years that were available under the Act.

PN3

And if that extension was successful here this morning then we would proceed with a further application to vary the agreement which would not change anything for people who worked under the conditions as they previously existed but would add into the agreement appropriate conditions to deal with the extended hours and the introduction of technology into the Castricum plant.

PN4

THE COMMISSIONER: And it would appear that there was a valid majority of employees voting in favour of extending the agreement.

PN5

MR McMAHON: Yes, Commissioner, yes and Mr Davey was there at the time that the vote was taken and the Act, I believe, requires us to, firstly, establish that a valid majority were in favour of the extension and that, furthermore, we had in writing agreement between the parties that an extension should occur, which has been supplied to you, and a statutory declaration to that effect has been included in the documents.

PN6

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, I have that on the file. Do you have - did you give the original of that to my - - -

PN7

MR McMAHON: Yes, the originals are here and I apologise, Commissioner, that these have not been to the registry - - -

PN8

THE COMMISSIONER: No, no, they have been.

PN9

MR McMAHON: Right.

PN10

THE COMMISSIONER: The originals have not been.

PN11

MR McMAHON: Yes.

PN12

THE COMMISSIONER: But on receipt - I should explain for the record what has occurred. We obviously had the matter that has been adjourned listed for today. We received advice by facsimile and made arrangements for files to be made up on the basis of those facsimiles, so it is just a question of the record, I think. So if you could pass up the originals and I will place them on the file. Given that the file has been made up with the facsimile copies - - -

PN13

MR McMAHON: Both matters are there, Commissioner, the extension and the variation.

PN14

THE COMMISSIONER: Both matters are here, yes. I will simply mark it as an exhibit.

EXHIBIT #M1 ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

PN15

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, thank you, Mr McMahon, is there anything further you wish to put about the variation?

PN16

MR McMAHON: Not on the extension.

PN17

THE COMMISSIONER: Mr Davey?

PN18

MR DAVEY: I don't whether it is appropriate at this stage but I certainly concur with the matters put by Mr McMahon but there was another matter that our people have asked me to place on the record which is not contained in the documentation, and that is, there was a problem in relation to a number of employees with regard to the trial of extended hours in that there was some that had commitments whereby they could not fit in with the extended days. Initially that problem was going to be overcome by having those people maintained on a separate line from those that went to the trialing of the extended days and this is just in the boning area, the kill floor was not a problem. However, when it - - -

PN19

THE COMMISSIONER: To everyone's surprise.

PN20

MR DAVEY: Yes, when it came to the position of voting for the trial the company had indicated that because of the seasonal downturn, unfortunately, they would have to close one of the lines down so that the opportunity for those that could not work the extended hours was no longer there, but the company was confident that the second line would re-open in October. And to overcome an impasse the company offered those that could not, for various reasons, work the extended hours, offered them the opportunity to be stood down until October and to be paid out whatever entitlements they had owing to them.

PN21

And in some instances there was sufficient entitlements to have them covered for the whole period and their employment would be seen to have continued and they would be re-employed when the second line re-opens and that second line will be working the normal day. And the delegates were concerned that I put that on the record, not that we don't trust the company or anything like that, but there was a concern that that be put on the record. Other than that the only other concern was that if there are problems during the trial and how those matters could be dealt with.

PN22

But obviously our settlements dispute procedure remains unaltered in the amended agreement, and that is a mechanism to deal with any problems as they arise, in any event. If the Commission pleases.

PN23

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, thank you, Mr Davey. Mr McMahon, is there any comment you wish to make in regard to that matter?

PN24

MR McMAHON: Yes, I should make a comment. My instructions are that the intention as set out by Mr Davey, is the company's intention and in October the second line would be expected, with normal stock supplied, to resume and those people would be back on deck as at that date. And, certainly, the use of the disputes procedure - if we run into any problems then we will certainly work through the disputes procedure.

PN25

THE COMMISSIONER: Yes, very good, thank you. This matter is an application to extend the nominal expiry date of an agreement known as the Castricum Brothers Pty Ltd Dandenong and the Australasian - in fact it is written, "Australian" in the application, but I understand it is the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union Victorian Meat Processing Agreement No 3, 2000. I am satisfied that there is agreement to extend that agreement as set out in the documentation that makes up the file to extend the agreement from its nominal expiry date of 17 August 2001 to 7 February 2004.

PN26

That is not more than three years after the date on which the agreement came into operation it having commenced on 8 February 2001. And I am satisfied that there was a valid majority of employees, whose employment is subject to the agreement, genuinely approved the extension. I come to that conclusion on the basis of the statutory declaration of Ms Bryant and also on the basis of the submission from Mr Davey. Accordingly, the agreement will be extended and an order giving effect to that will be issued in due course. The operative date of the order will be from today's date, and if there is nothing further, the proceedings in this matter are adjourned.

ADJOURNED INDEFINITELY [10.37am]

INDEX

LIST OF WITNESSES, EXHIBITS AND MFIs

EXHIBIT #M1 ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS PN15