C2005/1686, Transcript of Proceedings [2005] AIRCTrans 228 (2 February 2005)

1800 534 258

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

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Workplace Relations Act 1996 10133

COMMISSIONER BLAIR

C2005/1686

s.170LW - application for settlement of dispute (certification of agreement)

The Australian Workers' Union
and
ACI Operations Pty Ltd t/as ACI Glass Packaging Australia
(C2005/1686)
ACI Glass Packaging Melbourne Glass Workers Certified Agreement 2003

MELBOURNE

11.13AM, THURSDAY, 20 JANUARY 2005

PN1

MR C MELHEM: I appear for the Australian Workers' Union and with me is MR R KRISHNAN, the AWU site delegate and MR M ITALO and G FAGIAN from ACI.

PN2

MR A HAWKEY: I appear with MS P SALIBA.

PN3

THE COMMISSIONER: Thanks Mr Hawkey. Do you have your bed here? I mean, you seem to be here quite frequently.

PN4

MR HAWKEY: I understood an office was being prepared for me, sir.

PN5

THE COMMISSIONER: Okay, fine, good. Righto, Mr Melhem.

PN6

MR MELHEM: I think he is trying to build his string of fire points, Commissioner. Commissioner, the application before you is a notice given by the Australian Workers' Union to this Commission under the ACI Glass Packaging Certified Agreement 2003 as an LJ agreement that was certified on 6 October, 2003 which bound the company and the union. It's a section 170LW we are relying on. The matter concerning the dispute is in relation to a stand down of an employee at the ACI Spotswood site. The employee's name is Mile Italo, for allegedly leaving the site early on Christmas day, 25 December.

PN7

THE COMMISSIONER: Now, Mr Melhem, can you just spell out Mr Mile Italo's name?

PN8

MR MELHEM: Yes, Commissioner, M-i-l-e and the surname is I-t-a-l-o.

PN9

THE COMMISSIONER: Okay, thank you.

PN10

MR MELHEM: So since that alleged dispute occurred, the parties have convened several times in order to resolve this matter, in line with the dispute procedures contained in the certified agreement via meetings with the employee himself, then a meeting between the employee, the AWU site delegate and the human resources manager. Subsequent to that, a further meeting took place between the human resources manager, the site delegates, the employee and an industrial officer of the union. All these steps failed to reach a settlement. A senior person of the organisation of both the company and the unions have met over that issue as well, which is a requirement in the dispute procedure, occurred last week and, again, we failed to reach a settlement on that dispute.

PN11

Hence, then the union activated the application which is before you. So what we say there, Commissioner is that we have gone through the necessary steps in the dispute procedure and we have failed to reach an agreement and we are here today to seek the assistance of the Commission in order to resolve this matter. Commissioner, if it's acceptable to yourself and to the other side, if we can adjourn into conference, which I can elaborate and go through the steps we took and the actual matter in dispute and then try to resolve it in conciliation. Failing that, we will then seek to get this matter brought back on the record and we will be seeking an arbitrated outcome, but we hope that we can resolve in conciliation. If the Commission pleases.

PN12

THE COMMISSIONER: Thank you. Yes, Mr Hawkey.

PN13

MR HAWKEY: Sir, at this stage, I have no objection to going into conference.

PN14

THE COMMISSIONER: Thank you. Alright. The Commission will convene into conference. Thanks.

<SHORT ADJOURNMENT [11.17AM]
<RESUMED [12.11PM]

PN15

THE COMMISSIONER: The Commission has taken the view that it's probably not appropriate to put on transcript the allegations in total made against Mr Italo. The Commission does understand the allegations that have been made by the company in this matter and those allegations are quite serious. The Commission is not satisfied though that there was a clear intent by Mr Italo to do the things that the company alleges that he has done. However, the actions of Mr Italo are quite serious and the process, or the recommendation that the Commission intends to issue, which the Commission has been advised by both parties that they would accept, is not only to let Mr Italo know that his actions were not appropriate but also to send a very clear message to other employees that any similar action by them is also inappropriate.

PN16

The Commission has taken into account that Mr Italo, this is his first job in Australia and he has been with the company some 34 years. He is a 56 year old gentleman and he has worked his way up through the ranks to where, at one point, he occupied a supervisor's position looking after some, approximately, 50 employees. Although he doesn't hold that supervisor's position now, because he works in the audit department, he is still paid a supervisor's rate and attracts any wage increases that apply to that rate. Mr Italo has, according to the company and supported by the union, an excellent employment record. There is no history of warnings or counselling in that 34 year period of service. Having taken that into account, the Commission would recommend the following; that Mr Italo be transferred from the audit department to another department that has more or constant supervision; that Mr Italo is to be provided with a final warning, and (3), that Mr Italo is to maintain his supervisor's rate but in the strictest sense of it being red circled.

PN17

Now, the Commission described in conference at being a red oval. Red circle means this, that Mr Italo maintains his supervisor's rate but does not attract any wage increases to that rate until such time as his fellow employees on the same classification as he - or the same classification of the work that he is performing, sorry, reached the rate that
Mr Italo is at. He then can attract wage increases that flow to that classification of the work that his is performing. I hope I make myself clear on that. It's red circling to the strictest sense. They are the Commission's three recommendations. The Commission deems is not to be appropriate, given what it has said about the history of Mr Italo and his service with the company, and his age, that termination would have been an appropriate outcome. Having said that, the Commission will issue its recommendation in written form and the Commission will stand adjourned.

<ADJOURNED INDEFINITELY [12.15PM]