TASMANIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION

Industrial Relations Act 1984
s.23 application to vary an award

Transport Workers' Union of Australia,
Tasmanian Branch
(T.3271 of 1991)

TRANSPORT WORKERS GENERAL AWARD

Wage rates - State Wage August 1991 - Structural Efficiency Principle

REASONS FOR DECISION

This was an application made under Section 23 of the Act by the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, Tasmanian Branch (the Union) for the August 1991 State Wage Case (SWC) decision 2.5% increase to be applied to the Transport Workers General Award (the Award).

At the hearing the Union sought the 2.5% increase in wages and work-related allowances and submitted that the increases should be granted because the SWC decision requirements under the Structural Efficiency Principle (SEP) had been met already in the Award except for the following items for which a proposed draft order was tendered containing provisions aimed at satisfying the outstanding requirements:

• a supplementary payments clause detailing the conditions under which such would be paid under the Award. In this context the Commission was advised that the Minimum Rates Adjustment (MRA) process which had already begun in the Award by agreement would be consolidated and completed from the first full pay period commencing on or after 15 November 1991.

• in the Contract of Employment clause new provisions specifying that "an employer may direct an employee to carry out" certain duties. Added to this was another paragraph requiring reimbursement of the cost of any medical checks required by the employer. This latter item was outside the SWC decision ambit, but nevertheless pursued by the Union as part of this application.

In the same way the Union sought to introduce a provision excluding casual employees from the benefits of a number of clauses in the Award.

The Union said its purpose in raising these outside items was to bring the Award into better alignment with the counterpart Federal Award's provisions.

The Union advised that the counterpart Federal Award, the Transport Workers' Award, 1983, had already been amended to include the 2.5% increase and the required formal commitment by the Union had been sent to the Commission also.

The Tasmanian Confederation of Industries (the Confederation) advised its consent to the 2.5% application, but noted the Union's omission to include the required consultative mechanism provision and suggested that a suitable clause recently introduced into other awards of the Commission be added. The Union agreed to the Confederation's suggestion.

The Confederation also signified its agreement to the other two amendments to the Award sought by the Union which were outside the ambit of the SWC decision.

There were some other irrelevancies thrown into this application as it were by the Union which were rightly rejected by the Confederation and I endorse that rejection. The parties advised agreement to an operative date of the first full pay period commencing on or after 10 September 1991.

I am satisfied that the requirements of the SWC decision SEP have been met in this matter: the Award will therefore be amended as sought by the Union and agreed by the Confederation operative from the first full pay period commencing on or after 10 September 1991.

An order is attached.

P A Imlach
COMMISSIONER

Appearances:
B Hansch for the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, Tasmanian Branch.
P Targett for the Tasmanian Confederation of Industries.

Date and place of hearing:
1991.
Hobart:
September 4