T4287 - 5 July
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TASMANIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION Industrial Relations Act 1984 The Tasmanian Public Service Association GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SERVICE AWARD
Award variation - provision for payment of wages clause - Section 35 of the Industrial Relations Act 1984 certain matters to be dealt with by Full Bench of Commission - threshold matter - no valid reasons found - Interim Decision of 10 June 1993 shall stand - claim denied - application will proceed on merit REASONS FOR FURTHER INTERIM DECISION This matter concerns an application by the Tasmanian Public Service Association to vary the General Conditions of Service Award by including for the first time provisions in relation to payment of wages. The same matter has been before the Commission on three separate occasions to date and was last listed for hearing on 29 June following the handing down of my "Reasons for Interim Decision" on 10 June 1993 which dealt with the threshold question of referring the file back to the President and whether or not the claim by the TPSA should more appropriately be dealt with by a Full Bench. I gave reasons why I believed such a referral was not necessary and gave notice to the parties that they should be prepared for the claim to be dealt with on proper criteria on the next sitting day. However, on 29 June 1993 the Minister again raised "threshold" argument as to why I should not proceed to hear the matter and said my "Reasons for Interim Decision" of 10 June 1993 pre-empted argument which the Government had been denied the opportunity to put. On this, but no other basis, I allowed Mr McCabe to argue the subject matter of not proceeding to hear merit myself and the alternative suggestion of referring the file back to the President. The TPSA, the HSUA and the Tasmanian TAFE Staff Society raised a number of objections, including the fact that the Minister had not been denied the opportunity to argue the same subject matter, and indeed had exercised such a right at an earlier hearing. They said the Minister had made a submission in this regard at the time when there concurrently existed a dispute over payment of wages to certain school-located employees. Mr McCabe refuted the assertions made in this regard and insisted that any submissions made previously by him did not relate to this file, but to another. I accepted Mr McCabe's explanation at the time in good faith, however a subsequent search of transcript has revealed that on 15 March 1993 Mr McCabe in fact addressed the Commission in relation to application T.4287 of 1993 and was permitted to put such argument as he wished in relation to the subject matter of whether it was appropriate for me to hear the TPSA claim as to merit. This being the case there exist no valid reasons as to why I should further consider the matters contained in my "Reasons for Interim Decision" of 10 June 1993, which shall stand. So that there can be no doubt I re-emphasise that this application will commence to be heard on the next scheduled sitting day.
A. Robinson Appearances: Date and Place of Hearing:
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