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T1251, T1533 and T1658

 

IN THE TASMANIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION

Industrial Relations Act 1984

 

T.1251, T.1533 and
T.1658 of 1988

IN THE MATTER OF APPLICATIONS BY THE TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION AND THE FEDERATED CLERKS UNION TO VARY THE FUEL MERCHANTS AWARD

   
 

RE: 4% SECOND TIER AND HOURS OF WORK

   

COMMISSIONER J G KING

HOBART, 24 November 1988

   

REASONS FOR DECISION

   

APPEARANCES:

 
   

For the Transport Workers' Union

of Australia,
Tasmanian Branch

- Mr B Hansch

   

For the Federated Clerks Union
of Australia, Tasmanian Branch

- Mr P Noonan and
  Mr D Fry

   

For the Tasmanian Confederation
of Industries on behalf of
Tasmaid Foods Pty Ltd

- Mr K Brotherson
  Mr W Fitzgerald and
  Mr T Edwards

 

DATE AND PLACE OF HEARING:

 

27 September 1988 Hobart
04 October 1988 Hobart
27 October 1988 Hobart
14 November 1988 Hobart

 

Following earlier hearings and conferences between the parties, I was advised on 4 October 1988, that agreement in principle had been reached going to the 4% second tier wage increase. With one exception, that agreement is reflected in exhibit A.

Exhibit A details changes in award provisions under the following headings:

Overtime;

Sick Leave;

Payment of Wages;

Settlement of Disputes; Part-time Employees.

Only subclause (a) of the proposed new Part-time Employees clause is disputed. Subclause (a) reads:

"The rate shall be equal to the appropriate weekly rate divided by 40."

The employee organisations maintained that the divisor should be 38, as that is now the standard so far as working hours generally are concerned. However, the Tasmanian Confederation of Industry (T.C.I.) maintained that the Fuel Merchants Award (the Award) had not been varied to provide for a 38 hour week and therefore the divisor should remain at 40.

The agreed date of operation of the 4% increase is the first pay period commencing on or after 1 November 1988.

I endorse the agreement reached between the parties, including the date of operation. However, my conclusions on the disputed divisor for part-time employees are detailed later in this decision.

On 14 November 1988, I was advised that a similar situation had been achieved going to the reduced working hours claim. Exhibit B1 detailed six matters that are agreed between the parties. However, a seventh, Hours of Work and in particular the method of implementation of the 38 hour week is not agreed.

Exhibit B1 detailed five options which could be used to implement reduced working hours, including the working of seven hours thirty six minutes per day over five days. The Federated Clerks Union (F.C.U.) submitted a further Exhibit F1 which provided three options excluding the above.

It was submitted by the applicants that the prime purpose of reduced working hours was to achieve increased leisure time.

A reduction in daily working hours did not provide maximum benefits to employees.

The T.C.I. maintained that their option contained in Exhibit B1, allows for all the usual alternatives for the working of reduced hours. Importantly it allows for the most efficient working patterns to be adopted where alternatives prove costly. It also provides for a means of settling a dispute, particularly where either party may be adopting an unreasonable position.

Having carefully considered the options, it is my decision that the T.C.I. provision contained in Exhibit B1 will be included in the Award. The provision encompasses all of the generally accepted work patterns and allows for any unreasonable attitude to be tested before the Commission.

The agreed date of operation of the introduction of a 38 hour week is 1 February 1989.

Again I endorse the agreement of the parties and include the part-time provisions as qualified above. The endorsement also goes to the date of operation.

A logical consequence of the above decision is that the new part-time provisions to go into the Award as part of the second tier variation will, initially contain a divisor of 40. That divisor will reduce to 38 from 1 February 1989.

The Commission's 4% second tier order is attached. An order reflecting the necessary variations to implement the 38 hour week will be issued in due course.

 

J G King
COMMISSIONER