C2004/6820, Transcript of Proceedings [2005] AIRCTrans 226 (2 February 2005)

1800 534 258

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

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Workplace Relations Act 1996 10140
10141
10142

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT LLOYD

C2004/6820 C2004/6821 C2004/6822

s.113 - application to vary an award

Application by National Tertiary Education Industry Union
(C2004/6820)
University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy General Staff Award 2003, The

Application by National Tertiary Education Industry Union
(C2004/6821)
Charles Darwin University General Staff Award 2004

Application by National Tertiary Education Industry Union
(C2004/6822)
University of New South Wales General Staff Award 2003, The

MELBOURNE

2.00PM, THURSDAY, 20 JANUARY 2005

PN1

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Yes, can I have appearances please?

PN2

MS E FLOYD: I appear on behalf of the National Tertiary Education Union.

PN3

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Ms Floyd.

PN4

MS C PUGSLEY: I'm from the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association. I appear in matter C20046821 only on behalf of Charles Darwin University.

PN5

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you Ms Pugsley. We'll deal first with the ATFA matter, yes.

PN6

MS FLOYD: This is an application by the NTEU for a section 113 application to vary the University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, General Staff Award, 2003, to give effect to the safety net review wages May 2004, in decision PR 002004. I would like to hand up a notice of service to the parties.

EXHIBIT #F1 NOTICE OF SERVICE

PN7

MS FLOYD: In accordance with principle 8(c) of the decision, the full time rates have been varied by $991, and the necessary absorption clause, as required by principle 8(b), is found at 20.2 on page 2. The allowances have been varied in accordance with principle 5(a), and there is also an increase in the supportive wage from $60 to $61, in accordance with the decision of 2004, because of the supportive wage. If there's no further questions, your Honour, we put in an application to deal with them.

PN8

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: From the papers in the file, I don't have an adjustment supportive wage.

PN9

MS FLOYD: Can I hand up the final draft. Your Honour, since the notification of 8 December, there have been some discussions, and it was pointed out by one of the unions that that wasn't on the original. That final draft has been sent to all the parties, and to your associate by email, and the supportive wage is that variation on the last page, variation 5.

PN10

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Also, I recollect from the papers, Ms Floyd, that there was a - you've changed, I think the pleading, if you like, in clause 1, I think. Is that right, there was an email you sent I think- - -

PN11

MS FLOYD: To insert salary table, yes.

PN12

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That's right I think.

PN13

MS FLOYD: 20.1 had a preamble to the salary table by deleting it and deleted the whole lot.

PN14

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: All the parties consented to these changes.

PN15

MS FLOYD: I certainly have had that correspondence from the unions, and I presume they had sent you a copy. We've had nothing to the contrary from any party, and they've all been sent upon.

PN16

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: And they're aware of the change for the supportive wage?

PN17

MS FLOYD: That's true.

PN18

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: The paper work is a bit sort of out of order, because I think some of these consents are before that last change, but nevertheless, given the importance of the people the supportive wage is directed to, I'm prepared to overlook that. However the draft that was submitted will need a further amendment, which we can take care of in chambers, because at paragraph (a) it is the custom to include a reference to supportive wage in there. So we rectify that.

PN19

MS FLOYD: Do you want me to do that or your associate?

PN20

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: We can do that. This adjustment is taking place 12 months or longer since the last one, I take it?

PN21

MS FLOYD: The award was made as a first award on 8 December 2003 to operate from 26 November, so 12 months has elapsed since we last- - -

PN22

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: This is an application pursuant to section 113 of the Workplace Relations Act, by the NTEU, for an order to vary the University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, General Staff Award 2003, to incorporate the safety net adjustments provided for by the Safety Net Review Wages, May 2004 decision. In support of wage system decisions set out in prints L5723 and PR 949915. The Commission is satisfied that the draft order submitted by the applicant is in accordance with the principles of the Commission, as determined by the Safety Net Review Wages made 2004 decision. The Commission notes that the respondents to the award have consented to the application for a variation of the award in the terms sought by the applicant. Accordingly, the award will be varied in accordance with the application as amended to take account of minor drafting changes. The order will come into effect from the first pay period on or after 20 January 2005, and will remain in force for a period of 12 months. We move now onto the next one which is Charles Darwin.

PN23

MS FLOYD: Thank you your Honour. This is a section 113 application by the National Tertiary Education Industry Union, for a variation to the Charles Darwin University, General Staff Award, 2004, to give effect to the Safety Net Review Wages 2004 in prints PR 002, 004, and the 2004 Supportive Wage decision in print PR 949915. I'd like to hand up a copy of service.

EXHIBIT #F2 COPY OF SERVICE

PN24

MS FLOYD: Since 7 December when this original draft order was sent along with the listing, there has been some discussions between the parties on slight variations to typographical errors et cetera, and I'd like to hand up a final draft order in respect to that. Once again, this order has been emailed to all the parties, along with a copy to your associate yesterday. There's a couple of subsequent changes that still need to be made. In variation (a), we will have to include reference to the supportive wage as your Honour has pointed out, and we can go to clause 16.5.2A on page 2, after the table of rates for the vehicles. There's a paragraph which refers to an allowance of five cents. That allowance should be two cents. We sort of got a bit too excited and rounded it up when it wasn't necessary. It was agreed between the parties that we would round up or down to five cents in all other cases.

PN25

In accordance with Principle 8(c) of the decision, the wage rates have been increased by $991, and they are found at variation 13, and the absorption clause is given in variation 13 also at A2. Allowances have been varied in accordance with Principle 5(a), and this award was made on 22 March 2004 as a first award. At that stage the 2003 rates were inserted. It has an operative date from 6 February 2004, so we would be seeking an operative date as of 6 February 2005. If there's no further questions, your Honour I can move the application to you.

PN26

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I just had a question about the rounding up of the allowances, you said that was by agreement between the parties. I appreciate that's rounding up or rounding down. I'm just not sure that the relevant principle, which I think is 5(d), contemplates rounding.

PN27

MS FLOYD: It was a proposal of the university that that be done. It certainly wasn't our preference, but, in order to reach consent, we agreed.

PN28

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I'm just reluctant I think. I think it's best with a safety net adjustment to follow the matter fairly closely, to follow the principles, obviously, in the method of adjusting paying allowances. Rounding up and down above the safety net, potentially could require me to refer to the President which, no one wants to do, obviously, it's unnecessary. So I think the preferable course may be to actually, when we issue the final document, we actually go back to the initial figures which the union submitted.

PN29

MS FLOYD: Those are the ones that were in the original draft order.

PN30

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Yes. Ms Pugsley, do you have a view?

PN31

MS PUGSLEY: I'm indebted to your Honour for pointing out the issue that may arise in possibly departing from the principle. The reason that the rounding was proposed was purely for administrative convenience. Some of these allowances, particularly ..... allowances 2A, are allowances of less than $1, so it takes us, for example, from 30 cents to 30.4 cents, and it seemed to us a matter of administrative convenience, and the university was prepared, in case of those allowances, to round up to the nearest whole cent, but as I say, I'm indebted to your Honour and we have no objection to the final order appearing in the form in which we were served with it on 7 December 2004. There was one matter which was actually a typographical error, and that has been amended. Have we marked Ms Floyd ..... F3, is that now F3?

PN32

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: No we don't mark the applications.

PN33

MS PUGSLEY: I beg your pardon, the draft order which was provided to you today?

PN34

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: No, we don't mark them.

PN35

MS PUGSLEY: It is HUW 4.3, has been in the original draft order was 34, 567 was the salary, and in fact it should be 34, 576. That has now been corrected in the document that was handed up to you today.

PN36

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, I sympathise with the needs to try and stick to administrative simplicity, but I do think it is preferable to stay with the precise figures. That's how I propose that the final order be issued. This is an application pursuant to section 113 of the Act, by the NTEU for an order to vary the Charles Darwin University General Staff Award 2004, to incorporate the safety net adjustments provided for by the Safety Net Review Wages, May 2004 decision, and the supportive wage system decision set out in prints L5, 723 and PR 919915. The Commission is satisfied the draft order submitted by the applicant is in accordance with the principles of the Commission determined by the Safety Net Review Wages, May 2004 decision. The Commission notes that the respondent to the award consented to the application for a variation in the terms sought by the applicant. Accordingly, this award will be varied in accordance with the application, subject to some minor amendments to rectify drafting errors.

PN37

The order will come into effect from the first pay period on or after 6 February 2005, and will remain in force for a period of 12 months.

PN38

I now move on to the final matter, the University of New South Wales General Staff Award.

PN39

MS FLOYD: This is a section 113 application by the NTEU, to vary the University of New South Wales General Staff award 2003 to give effect to the Safety Net Review Wages 2004 in print PR 002004, and also to give effect to the 2004 supportive wage decision in print PR 949915. I'd like to hand up a notice of service to the parties.

EXHIBIT #F3 NOTICE OF SERVICE

PN40

MS FLOYD: Since the service of that notice, it was pointed out that the supportive wage had not been increased, and I would like to hand up a final draft order which was sent to all the parties, including that. That's been emailed also to your associate. The supportive wage variation is on the last page of variation 7.

PN41

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: There seems to be a word missing there, doesn't there.

PN42

MS FLOYD: In clause 30.3.3. In accordance with principle 8(c), the rates have been increased by $991, and they are found at variation 1, the absorption clause as required by principle 8(e) is at variation 2, 20.2 and 20.3, and the allowances have been increased in accordance with principle 5(a) of the decision. If there are no further questions, I commend the application to you with an operative date as from today, this was an award that was made on the ..... December, operative from 26 .....

PN43

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Just to clarify for me, what's regarded as a key classification in these awards?

PN44

MS FLOYD: The key classification is level 3.1.

PN45

THE SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT: We thought so. So the final order will have that minor amendment in clause 7 and the inclusions A in the draft order.

PN46

This is an application pursuant to section 113 of the Act, by the NTEU for an order to vary the terms of the University of New South Wales General Staff Award 2003, to incorporate the safety net adjustments provided for by the Safety Net Review Wages May 2004 decision, and supportive wage system decision set out in prints L5723 and PR 949915. The Commission is satisfied that the draft order submitted by the applicant is in accordance with the principles in the Commission as determined by the Safety Net Review, Wages, May 2004 decision. The Commission notes that the respondents to the award have consented to the application for a variation in the terms sought.

PN47

Accordingly, the award will be varied, in accordance with the application, as amended to take account of some drafting errors. The order will come into effect from the first pay period on or after 20 January 2005, and will remain in force for a period of 12 months.

<ADJOURNED ACCORDINGLY [2.22PM]

LIST OF WITNESSES, EXHIBITS AND MFIs

EXHIBIT #F1 NOTICE OF SERVICE PN6
EXHIBIT #F2 COPY OF SERVICE PN23
EXHIBIT #F3 NOTICE OF SERVICE PN39