INDUSTRIAL ACTION – order against industrial action – s.418 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for an order that industrial action stop or not occur, against all employees employed at specific site, and not be organised by respondents – applicant submitted that employees and sub-contractors had attended a stop work meeting after a failure by sub-contractors to rectify errors in calculating invoices had resulted in invoices for weeks ending 22 and 29 September 2016 not being processed – the applicant submitted the stoppage of work amounted to a refusal to perform work and was therefore industrial action as defined by the FW Act – applicant submitted the industrial action was not protected and contrary to the dispute resolution procedure contained in the relevant enterprise agreement – Commission satisfied that stop work meeting constituted unprotected industrial action – Commission also satisfied that further unprotected industrial action was probable [Harbour City Ferries] – having made such findings, Commission now without discretion and must made order that industrial action not occur and not be organised – orders made. Toll Transport P/L t/a Toll IPEC v Transport Workers’ Union of Australia New South Wales Branch; Transport Workers’ Union of New South Wales
February 22, 2017
Sean Jen Eyong Tan has failed to get his claim for unfair dismissal against Vital Packaging endorsed by the Fair Work Commission. Commissioner Williams in Perth on 21 February 2017 ruled Mr Tan had resigned his job and had not been unfairly dismissed.
February 22, 2017
An application for approval of the Aegis Safety Enterprise Agreement 2016 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be heard by Commissioner Gregory in his Melbourne chambers at 2pm today.
February 22, 2017
An application for approval of the First Call Fire Services Pty Ltd and CEPU – Plumbing Division (Vic) Fire Protection Agreement Victoria 2015-2019 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be decided by Commissioner Gregory in Melbourne at 10am.
February 22, 2017
William Hunuki has failed to ping Staff Australia Pty Ltd for unfair dismissal. FW Deputy President Clancy said in his ruling that Mr Hunuki failed to respond to attempts by the Commission to contact him. “He has shown no willingness to prosecute his case and he has provided no explanation for his failure to comply with directions. In these circumstances, I will exercise my discretion under s.399A(1)(b) of the Act and dismiss Mr Hunuki’s application,” said FW DP Clancy.
February 22, 2017
A heavier unfair dismissal/labour dispute caseload faces Fair Work Commissioners today. The 32 applicants and respondents are: Sand Fridge Lines Pty Ltd & Sand Fridge Lines Pty Ltd (Sullivan), Joondalup Business Association (Faulkner), Hitachi Construction & Mining Machinery (Hale), Granite Transformations Pty Ltd (Johnson), HKF Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (Macri), Bell Asset Management Limited (Redfern), Staples Australia Pty Ltd (Rogers, Williams, Wu), Doyles Restaurants Family Trust (Zhang), Hunter Valley Premium Meats (Ramsay), Cessnock Ex-Services Club Ltd (Blakemore), Hyte Formwork (New South Wales) Pty Ltd (Sams), LIGHTHOUSE BEACH REALTY (2015) PTY LTD (Rex), TriCare Limited (Moody), East Waste (Kearns), Co-Operative Bulk Handling Limited (McCarrol), Kentz PL (Carter), 5678 Performing Arts, (and) Little Dancers 5678 Performing Arts (O’sullivan), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Ltd (Upkett), Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd (Abarra), KM&T Pty Limited (Gokal), S&J Boots Pty Ltd (Grbac), Brophy Family Trust (Lappalainen), Toll Transport Pty Ltd (Pavano), Toyota Motor Corporation (Tainsh), Department of Health and Human Services (Morag), Linkforce Engineering Pty Ltd (Homsi), Helloworld Limited (Baggoley), IMAC Bricklaying (Robertson), Link Group (Balachandran).
February 21, 2017
Its a supermodel moment for Fair Work Commissioners. There are so few cases to be heard, its just not worth getting out of bed. The list today includes: North Ryde Community Pre-School Inc (Hoolahan), STAPLES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED (Rivas), Boral Cement Limited (Ardrey), TAL (Kumaran), Ronpom Pty Ltd (Pomering), Hi-Quality Group Pty Ltd (Stafford), Churches of Christ Community Care in NSW (Gordon), Easy Payroll Perth Pty Ltd (Wrzoskiewicz), Bankwest (Au), SAE CREATIVE MEDIA INSTITUTE (Henebery), Convatech Pty Limited (Lim), Watman Pty Ltd & Pruckner (Newett, Stephenson), Qube Ports Pty Ltd (Campbell), OTR (Smith), Islamic College of SA (Avery), Collection House Group (Kopania).
February 21, 2017
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS – better off overall test – ss.185, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal – Full Bench – appellant made application for the approval of the All Trades Queensland P/L Apprentice/Trainee Enterprise Agreement 2015 (2015 Agreement) – 2015 Agreement was opposed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), and Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) (collectively, the Unions) – dispute in the proceedings as to what were the applicable comparator instruments for the purpose of the application of the ‘better off overall test’ (BOOT) – appellant’s position was that the applicable comparator instruments were a number of Queensland State awards and orders preserved as ‘notional agreements preserving State awards’ (NAPSAs) – Unions’ position was that the relevant instruments were the modern awards, and that the 2015 Agreement was incapable of passing the BOOT by reference to these instruments – at first instance the Commission determined the relevant modern awards were the comparator instruments – appellant contended that decision was in error and should be quashed – appellant supported by the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the Queensland Master Builders Association Industrial Organisation of Employers (QMBA), and the Group Training Association of Queensland and Northern Territory Limited trading as the Apprentice Employment Network (Apprentice Employment Network) – Full Bench considered permission to appeal should be granted – appeal raised issues which were novel, complex, and had broader implications for the pay rates and conditions of employment for trainees and apprentices in Queensland – appellant’s submissions focused upon whether the relevant NAPSAs continued to apply to, or cover, it and its employees covered by the 2015 Agreement – Full Bench considered the critical question was whether the relevant modern awards relied upon by the Unions covered employees to whom the 2015 Agreement would apply if approved (regardless of whether the NAPSAs covered or applied to such employees) – s.48(1) of FW Act provides that a modern award covers an employee and an employer if it is expressed to cover them – Full Bench considered it was clear that the modern awards relied upon by the Unions were, at the ‘test time’ for the 2015 Agreement expressed to cover various categories of employees to whom the 2015 Agreement would apply if approved – question was then whether anything in the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 (Transitional Act) altered that position – Full Bench held Item 16 of Schedule 5 of the Transitional Act, while it operates to continue the coverage of award-based transitional instruments (ABTIs) to which it applies, does not displace the coverage of any modern award to an employee – item 16(5), while it provides that a modern award shall not apply to an employee while an ABTI still covers the employee, does not provide that a modern award shall not continue to cover the employee – Full Bench found no inherent conflict in there being coverage of an employee by two different instruments, since coverage is only concerned with the potential and not the actual application of the instrument – held decision at first instance was correct – permission to appeal granted – appeal dismissed – application for approval of 2015 Agreement referred back to Spencer C for final determination in accordance with this decision. Appeal by All Trades Queensland P/L against decision of Spencer C of 12 August 2016 [[2016] FWC 2832] Re: Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and Ors
