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Tasmanian Industrial Commission

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T6346, T6375 and T6386

 

TASMANIAN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION

Industrial Relations Act 1984
s.23 application for award or variation of award

Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia,
Tasmanian Branch

(T6346 of 1996)

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association,
Tasmanian Branch

(T6375 of 1996)

Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union
(T6386 of 1996)

BOOTMAKERS AWARD

 

DEPUTY PRESIDENT B.R. JOHNSON

HOBART, 6 August 1996

Award variation - third $8 arbitrated safety net adjustment - meaning of parties - consent matter - application granted - operative date ffpp 2.8.96

REASONS FOR DECISION

The applicants in these proceedings are the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, Tasmanian Branch, and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Tasmanian Branch. The unions seek to vary the Award to reflect the third $8 Safety Net Adjustment, recently confirmed by the State Wage Case decision of 24 July 1996. The application includes variation of allowances by 5.75%, representing cumulative effect of the three $8 Arbitrated Safety Net Adjustments.

During the hearing I amended the application by consent to include a minor variation to Clause 29 - Parental Leave, correcting a cross-reference error.

The employee organisations that have an award interest in this matter are:

Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union (ASU)
The Australian Workers' Union, Tasmania Branch (AWU)
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Tasmanian Branch (SDA)
Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, Tasmanian Branch (TCFU)

The application ultimately proceeded by way of consent, the Unions submitting and TCCI agreeing that, at award level:

  • the award incorporates variations reflecting the first $8 Arbitrated Safety Net Adjustment from the first full pay period to commence on or after 1 March 1994 and the second $8 Arbitrated Safety Net Adjustment from the first full pay period to commence on or after 21 June 1995;
  • the agreed operative date for the increase now sought, the first full pay period to commence on or after 2 August 1996, reflects a time period between the second and third $8 Arbitrated Safety Net Adjustments that is greater than twelve months;
  • there are no offsets arising from previous wage increases reached at an enterprise level since 1 November 1991; and
  • the application complies generally with the public interest requirements of s.36 of the Act.

Paragraph 7.3.2.3 of the Wage Fixing Principles, as determined by the recent State Wage Case Full Bench decision, requires that:

    "...  the parties commit to review the award in the context of:-

      (i) consistent award formatting;
      (ii) removal of discriminatory provisions;
      (iii) removal of obsolete or amendment of inaccurate award provisions;
      (iv) updating Clause 6 - Parties and Persons Bound;
      (v) re-writing of the award in plain English;
      (vi) the appropriate use of facilitative provisions;
      (vii) the inclusion of an appropriate enterprise flexibility clause."

During the hearing Mr G Cooper, for AWU, raised a question concerning how this Commission proposes to construe the above paragraph in relation to meaning of the word "parties". That is, does the expression comprehend, as AWU contends, both employer and employee organisations who have a recognised interest in any particular award.

I do not go into this matter too deeply since, in the end, I was able to determine the applications by consent. It is enough, therefore, to report the basis upon which that consent outcome came into being. Both the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited and the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council confirmed before me that, in the joint consent Exhibits put to the recent State Wage Case Full Bench, the word "parties" in paragraph 7.3.2.3 refers only to employee organisations that have a recognised interest in any particular award.

All employee organisations with an interest in the Bootmakers Award, including AWU, accepted the clarification put forward by the peak employee and employer organisations. However, I note that, at least from the points of view of AWU and TCCI, the issue may again arise at some future time in a context different from that of the third $8 Arbitrated Safety Net Adjustment.

Having regard to the above comments, each of the employee organisations named above specifically commit themselves to undertaking the review required by paragraph 7.3.2.3 of the Wage Fixing Principles.

I believe the submissions and expressions of agreement put to me and recorded above fully satisfy the requirements of the current Wage Fixing Principles. Accordingly, I will vary the award in the manner sought by the applicants, with effect from the first full pay period to commence on or after 2 August 1996. My order, in that form, will follow shortly.

 

B.R. Johnson
DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Appearances:
Mr D. Strickland for the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, Tasmanian Branch.
Mrs H.J. Dowd for the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union.
Mr P. Noonan for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Tasmanian Branch.
Mr G. Cooper for The Australian Workers' Union, Tasmania Branch.
Mr K. O'Brien for the Tasmanian Trades and Labor Council.
Mr T. Edwards, Mr S. Gates and Ms J. Thomas for the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited.

Date and Place of Hearing:
1996
August 2, 5
Hobart