Jarrad v Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board
[1978] FCA 71
•4 Aug 1978
CATCIJWORDS
II
| Industrial law - breach of award - | stand down'' of employees - |
| work available not given | to employees but kept for later |
II
| resumption of work | - not thereby unable to usefully employ" - |
| "usefully" not synonym for "gainfully" | - employer failing to |
| exercise sufficient diligence | In deciding to stand down |
employees - penalty imposed - Conciliation and Arbitration
| Act | 1904 S . 119 |
| Clifford Jarrad v. Melbourne and Metropolitan | Tramavs Boerd |
| Coram : | Keely J. |
| Place: | Melbourne |
| Date: | 4 August 1978 |
| IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTR4LIA | ) 1 | ||
| INDUSTRIAL DIVISION |
| ||
| ) |
| VICTORIA | DISTRICT | EGISTRY | 1 |
IN THE MATTER o f the Conciliation and Arbltration Act 1904
| CLIFFORD JARRAD | Claimant |
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MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN
| TRAMWAYS BOA2D | espondent |
| JUDGE MAKING ORDER: | KEELY, J. |
| DATE OF ORDER: | 4 August 1978 |
| WHERE MADE: | Melbourne |
ORDER OF THE COURT:
| 1. | The Court determines that the respondent on or | about |
| 4 October 1977 committed | a breach of the Vehlcle Industry |
(Roping In No. 1) Award 1974 in that it failed to pay to
the persons whose names appear in the summons herein (as
amended) other than James John krphy the amount of wage
appropriate under the said Award to which the said persons
| were entitled in respect | of 4 October 1977. |
2. The Court imposes upon the respondent a penalty of Five
| hundred dollars ($500.00) in respect of the said breach of the Award. |
3. The Court orders thaL the whole of the penalty be paid to
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4 . The Court orders that the respondent shall pay to each of
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| 5. |
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| r'KOM lKANSLRIr,I | Or | ORAL | J U U G M t N ' I |
| , | IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA | ) |
| ) V. No. 16 of 1978 | ||
| INDUSTRIAL DIVISION | ) |
IN THE MATTER of the Conciliatlon
| and Arbitration Act | 1904 |
B E T W E E N :
| CLIFFORD JARRAD | Claimant |
| AND | |
| THE MELBOURNE ASD NETR@POLITAN | |
| TRAMWAYS BOARD | Respondent |
| REASONS FOR JUDGXENT |
| 4 AUGUST 1978 | KEELY, J. |
| This is an application under s.119 | of the Conciliztion |
and Arbitration Act 1904, (the Act) for the imposition of
| a penalty in respect | of an alleged breach of the Vehicle |
| Industry (Roping-In No. 1) Award 1974. | The breach alleged. |
as amended without obJection at the hraring, is that of failing
| to pay to certain members | of the Vehicle Builders Employees' |
| Federation of Australia (the FederaLion) wages | in respect of |
| the whole or any part | of 4 October 1977. |
| At the commencement of the hearing the summons | was |
amended by consent to delete the name Max Flynn from the llst
| i | of employees set out in the summons. The summons as amended | ||
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| and the remaining 12 were employed as tram truck assemblers. |
| - 2 - | , |
,
Counsel for the claimant and the respondent
| commendably reached agreement | on certain facts and | so shortened |
| the length of the hearing. | Those agreed facts, as amended |
| during the hearing | are as follows: |
| I t (l) That the V.B.E.F. is | an organisation wlthin the |
| meaning of Section 119 of | the Concillation and |
| Arbitratlon Act. |
| (2) That tYLs Melbourne and MetroDolitan | Trmwavs Board |
(M.M.T.B.) is a body corporare capable of sulng and being sued by virtue of Sectior; 4(?) of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Act 1956 (Vic.) No. 6311.
That on 3rd and 4th October, 1977 the persons named in the summons out cf which these proceedings arise (the relevant employees)
| were employed by the | P1.M.T.B. pursuant to an |
award of the Australian Conclliation end
| Arbitratlon Commission entitled | The Vehlcle |
Industry (Roping-In No. 1) Award 1974 (No. 3995)
as varied.
That on 3rd October. 1977 thc F.I.M.T.R. Kotified
| each and every | one of the relevant | evploS-ecs that, |
as from 4.15 p.m. on 3rd Octsber, 1 9 7 7 , he would
be stood down. That the eLfect of such notice
| was the: | each of ths relevant cmplcyees | has |
| notified that wazes would be deducted | durm;: |
the period of the stand dobn 2nd tb.at stand down
was for an indefinite perlod.
That ncne of the relevant c ; ? p l o y e ~ ~ h a s been paid wages by the N.M.T.B. in res?cLL o i 4th October, 1977.
The restrictions on the use of power supplied
| by the State Electricity | Commission of Victoria |
were as advertised in the Melbourne daily press on Tuesday 27th September, 1977, and continued in force without alteration until Saturday 8th October, 1977 and were applicable to the M.M.T.B.
In respect of the use of such power for
| commercial and industrial purposes the | N.M.T.B. |
had no exemption from the restrlctlons. In
| respect of the | use for tractlon the | M.M.T.B. was |
| permitted to, and did, use | half of its normal |
| consumption to provide essential publ~c | transport. |
All the restrictions were lifted effectively
| irom midnight on 26th October, 1977. |
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c
| ( 7 ) | That Clifford Jarrad is | an officer of the |
| V.B.E.F. | who is authorised under the rules of |
| the V.B.E.F. to sue on behalf of the | V.B.E.F. |
| (8) | That as at 3rd and 4th October, 1977 each and | |
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| member of the V.B.E.F." The Vehicle Industry (Roping-In No. 1) Award 1974, |
| provided, in respect | o f the members named in the | summons, |
that "the conditions of employment shall be those prescribed
for the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board by Part XXXV
| of the Metal Trades Award | 1952 as varied from time | to time" |
| (the award). |
| It was common ground that | at all material times there |
were two clauses of the award which might be relevant to
the stand down.
| Clause 1A(e) | of Part X x ) N provides: |
I t Standing d o m of Employees.
| (e) | Notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained | ||
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| right to deduct payment for any day the employee cannot be usefully employed because of any strlke or through any breakdown in machinery | |||
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responsible.
| Clause 29(l)(a) | provides: |
| I 1 Emergency | Provisions. |
| (1) | Notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained | |
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| provision shall apply in the State of Victoria in the case of an employer who is subjected to restriction or rationlng in the use of electric energy and/or coal gas and/or the cmetgency disconnection thereof in accordance with orders | ||
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| authority. |
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| (a) | If by reason of such restriction | or rationing |
| or emergency disconnection | he is unable usefully |
to employ an employee for the whole or part of any day o r shift, he may deduct from the wages of that employee payment for any part of
| the day or shift sucn employee cannot be | II |
| usefully employed . | . . |
There is then a proviso which is not presently material.
| Counsel €or the claimant and the respondent | bo h contended |
| that clause 29(l)(a) | overrides clause 1A(e) of Part XXXV of |
| the award insofar | as there is any inconsistency between the |
| two provisions. | However, Mr Alan Stockdale of counsel, 01-1 |
behalf of the respondent, submitted that clause 29(l)(a)
| should be construed narrowly and that, | so construed, the |
| clause did not apply | to the standing | d o m of employees which |
| occurred on 4 October 1977 | , which, in his submission, came |
| within clause lA(e). |
| The notice to the emp | loyees of the respondent's decislon |
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to stand d o m employees was headed Power Restrictions" ,lnd
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| expressly stated that the stand down | !<as because of the |
prolonged power strike by SEC workers and consequent restrictions placed upon the use of electric power".
| I accept the argument of | Mr Don Ryan of counsel on behalf |
| of the claimant, that ther,e | was no mtervening cause betxeen |
the electricity restrlctions and the respondent's decision
to stand down the employees. The mere fact that the stand dobm
| did not occur until some | days after the commenccment of thc |
| electricity restrictions does | not in any way prevent the stand |
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| down from being, in the words of clause 29(l)(a), | by reason |
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of ... restriction ... in the use of electric energy".
| Accordingly in my | view clause 29(l)(a) | is the approprlate |
clause to consider, being the clause directed specifically to the case of an employer who contends that on a particular
| ! | day certain employees could | not be usefully employed | by |
reason of restrictions upon the use of electric energy. Perhaps in this case, the result would bs the sams if clause 1A(e) 1,xre
| applied instead of clause | 29(l)(a). |
I turn now to consider whether on the evidence the
| respondent was "unable | usefully to employ" on 4 October 1977 |
the employees named in the summons. W. J. Allenby, an orgaplser of the Federation, gave evidence that on the morning of Tuesdzy, 4 October 1977 at the Preston Workshops of the respondent he
saw members of the Federation who had been stood 0L-n perfor-
work. He stated that on that morning J. W. Barrett, the foreqan
| of the truck shop, told him that he dld not deny that there | iizc |
,I
| work available to be done by the employees concerned but | thc |
| work they were doing | was work that (the respondent was) goln; |
| to give them when they | came back t o work after the power |
restrictions had been lifted".
| Mr Allenby also gave evidence that | on the same day | J. D. |
Scholtz, the assistant manager of the Preston Workshop said
1 1
to him similar statemezts which meant the same thing".
| Mescrc Barrett and Scholtz | both gave evidence on behalf of |
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the respondent. The former said that he did not remember
making such a statement and the latter said that he could not
recall saying it but neither denied having made such a statement.
I accept the evidence of Mr Allenby that the statements were made
and in my view they correctly expressed the views held by Messrs Scholtz and Barrett on 4 October 1977. Further, t o the
| extent to which the evidence | of Messrs Scholtz and Barrett in |
| this hearing is inconsistent | with those statements I accept |
| the statements made | on 4 October 1977 rather than their evldence |
given some 10 months later.
| In this connection two other passages in the evidence | of |
| Mr Scholtz are illuminating. | Ln one he said "the usual |
practice (at the workshops) has always been that they have
| at least a day's work available | f o r when they return" (i.e. | to |
| work after the stand | down period). | The other passage in h 1 5 |
| evidence was in response | to a question as to what was his |
view now, i.e. "looking back at the incident with hindslght".
| His answer made it clear that his view is | now different. He |
| said: |
"Looking back, I would say yes, if the same
situation arose again, I would say that would
be a view I would hold that if the work was
there it should be done. This is my own
personal opinion; it should be done and ther
the people could be brought back after the
| rest of the shops resumed | when supplies of | I , |
materials and parts were available.
| 1 |
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In view of the foregoing evidence, I do not consider It
| is necessary to deal in detail | with the evldence as to the |
work available to be done, nor with the evidence of the kork
| performed on 4 October 1977 by employees who had | been notitied |
| by the respondent that they had been stood down. | However, I |
| shall refer briefly to | Mr Barrett's evidence on the subject |
of the availability of work and its usefulnes:
| Mr Aarrett gave evidence that the work | of fitting brake |
| gear to truck frames | was performed on 4 October 1977 by one |
| team of two men | who had not been stood down. He stated there |
was enough of that work available to have enabled him to employ
| another team of two tram truck assemblers | on that work all |
| day on 4 October. |
| Mr Barrett gave a considerable amount | o f evidence as to |
| certain work called "running | bolts down" whlch was in fact |
performed - contrary to the stand down order given by the respondent - by several of the employeLs named in the summons.
| In this operation bolts which | have been previously used but |
| which are in reasonable condition are put in a vice | and have |
| any imperfections removed by | a die. This work - which Nr Barrett |
| described as part of the normal work of the assemblers | - 1s |
| apparently done from time | to time because, as he sald, it is |
| II cheaper to use the run down bolts rather than | use new | ones". |
In my vlew it is vork which is useful in the respondent's
I t
| business even if the supply is already adequate". | It would |
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be different if there were such an over-supply that problems
| of storage made the work of increasing the supply | no longer |
| useful. However, Mr Barrett described the supply | of the "run |
| down bolts" after the work of running the bolts | down had been |
performed on 4 October 1977 (by those employees who had bccn
| told that they | were stood down f o r the day) simply | as | II adequate" |
| although the question asked by | Mr Stockdale was whether | thc |
1 1
supply was adequate, excessive or not enough". On all cf the evidence I consider that the supply of bolts already
| so treated was not adequate immediately before those | employee-s |
| perfomed the work on 4 October 1 9 7 7 . |
| Mr Barrett also stated that there were | at the workshops |
| enough previously used bolts requiring the performance | of the |
work of "Iuming the bolts down" to occupy all of the tran truck
assemblers in the pcrformancr of thet work on 4 October ia':
| although there would not have been enough dies for | all of t?.? |
employees to have performed that work on that day. Hoicevec,
the unavailability of sufficient dies does not advance the
respondent's case significantly because the work of runnln,
| down bolts wjth the available dles was | not all allocated by |
| 'the respondent to specific employees. | I shall refcr to thc |
| fact that unallocated work is work | whlch is available to |
a l l employees who have been stood dow1 when dealing with thc-
Carpcnters apd Jnincrs Case laLer.
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II
| Mr Barrett gave | fu r the r | ev | idence | o | f | u se fu l ' ' | work | that |
| was | a v a i l a b l e | t o be performed | - | and | was | i n f a c t p e r f o r m e d | by |
| employees who had | been | stood | down - on 4 October 1 9 7 7 . | Such |
work inc luded two employees named Pepe at-d Woodianisky
| 1 1 f i n i s h i n g | a | number | one | t ruck"; | two | other | employees named |
| Sappuppo | and | Kariouz | "finishing | a number | 15 truck". | He | a l s o |
| r e f e r r e d t o t h e | work | on | 4 October 1977 | of | two | employees | nn red |
| Hollingworth and Diana performing "truck | work" which "could |
| have | been | any | of | the normal work of an assembler' | ' | and | which |
| "would | b e u s e f u l | work". |
| Further evidence | was g iven by Mr | B a r r e t t | as | t o b r e z k i n g |
| down | b rake | gea | r | i n to | s ing le | componen t s . | He | d e s c r i b e d | t h i s |
| work | which | was | done by one Bisogono | (who was | n o t named | i n |
| t h e summons b u t who | was | s tood down) as u s e f u l . | Two | o t h e r |
| employees | named | S e l l a n t i a n d L a s k a r a s | - | a l s o s t o o d d o m b u t |
| n o t named | i n | t h e | summons - were | bu i ld ing | brake | gear . | This |
| work was descr ibed by | Mr | B a r r e t t as | b e i ~ g u s e f u l i n t h e | long |
| term, | by wh ich he sa id | tha | t | he | wean | t | t ha t | t he ex i s t ln ; | s tock - |
| 1 1 |
| p i l e was | enough f o r | p o s s i b l y | q u l t e | a | few | weeks' | work". | Oth;.r |
| work | which | Mr | Barrett desc r ibed as u s e f u l as soon as t h e |
| r e s t r i c t i o n s were | l i f t e d was | t h a t of | two | employees named |
| Hebbard | and | James | - who a r e named in t h e summons. | They b o t h |
| gave evidence | on 4 October 1977 | they | were | assembling | brake |
| gea r | on | to bcgies and | I | a c c e p t | t h a t e v l d e n c e i n s t e a d | of |
| of Mr | Bar re t t ' s ev idence tha t | t hey were bo th d i sman t l ing t rucks . |
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| I have reached the conclusion | on all the evidence that |
| the respondent was | unable to usefully employ James John Murphy | I&,o |
| was employed solely as a crane driver although he | had previously |
been employed as a tram truck assembler. As to Ales S,ne?ic
| whose dutles included but | were not limited to crane driving, |
| I consider that on the evidence there was work | upon whlch he could |
be usefully employed including some of the work he In facL performed on 4 October 1977 when he attended the workshop
| despite the notification that | he had been stood dov-n. |
| Each of the remaining 1 2 employees named in | the sum'rops |
| was a tram truck assembler at all material tines and | the |
| evidence in my view clearly establishes that there | >:as work |
| available, the performance of which | was within the tcms of |
the contracts of employment of those eirp1c:;~es and !;hich X ~ S
| work which would be | of use and of valuc trJ | the respsrdenL c - ~ t h e r |
| on the resumption of normal operations | upcn the 1;ftinS of |
| the power restrictions or | lcithin one monLh approuivately |
| thereafter. In my vlew it is not possibl~ | to cor~clude thaL |
I ,
| the usefulness of such work 1 s | remote" as contended | by Lounscl |
| for the respondent. |
| It may be that the respondent could have deployed | it,< |
| employees in such a way that a1 i of the work upon !;hlch | Lh? |
| tram truck assemblers could be usefully Employed | or. 4 October |
1977 was specifically allocated to certain employees so that as a consequence no such work remained for allocation to the remaining employees. Had that course been followed the
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| respondent would | have been entitled to stand down any employees |
| in respect | o f whom no work was available. |
I agree with and adopt with respect the foilow~n7g passage
| from the "observations'" | appearing in the Joint Judgmerit of |
Mr Justice Spicer, the Chief Judge, and Mr Justice Smithers,
| in the Australian Industrial | Court in the Carpenters and Jolners |
| - | Case (1371) 17 | Federal Law Reports 330 | at p.333: |
(i) Where useful employxent is not available for
| a11 the employees normally engaged | in a class |
| of work performed in | some aspect of production |
| but is available for one or more | of such employees |
it cannot on that ground be said with respect
| to any particular employee | that he cannot be |
| usefully employed. |
| (ii) When in the circumstances referred | to in |
| the last preceding sub-parasraph | some employee |
or employees are engaged to perform the
availablc useful work then it can be said
| with respect to the others that they | cannot |
1 1
be usefully employed.
| I adhere to the opinion that I expressed 1n the | Technical |
| Staff ( T . A . A . ) | Ai$.arc! 1974 Case in a Judgment delivered 01 |
23 December 1977 a? follows:
| 1 1 In my view under the stand down provision | l |
| an ernployer 1 s not entitled to | deduct pqxent |
| for any day | an employee cannot bc usefully |
employed' where on the day in qusstlon there
| is work available for performance | by that |
| employee which | work the employer c-ould | as a |
| matter of law | ask' the employee to | perfom as |
| being work pursuant | to or reasonably incldental |
to his contract of employxent.
| In my view where such work | is a\*ailahle | to be |
performed thc employer cxmot 'di-duct payment'
even thcugh:
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| (1) | the performance of | that | work on t h e day |
| i n q u e s t i o n | w i l l | n e c e s s a r i l y r e s u l t i n | ||
| t h e r e b e i n g | less |
|
| employee | t o p e r f o r m a t t h e c e s s a t i o n | o f |
| t h e s t r i k e | upon which | the employer | re l ies |
| as | l e a d i n g t o h i s c l a i m e d r q h t | t o d e d u c t |
payment ;
| looking | a t | the ques t ion | (o f whe the r | t o | ' s t and |
| down' an | employee) | as 2 matter | of | commercial |
| management, it would | be | in | the e rnployer ' s |
| f i n a n c i a l | i n t e r e s t s | C O | s tand dom | the | employee |
| and | thereby | avoid | havlng | to pay | him | f o r t h e d a y | o r |
| days | i n | ques t ion , | e .g . | where , | as | i n | t h i s |
| case , | t he | employe | r | i s | Luf fe r i l l g | a | loss | of |
| a l l o r | v i r t u a l l y | a l l of | i t s revenue. | I | p o i n t |
| ou t | t ha t | t he p rov i s ion does no t confe r upon |
l
| an | employer | a | r i g h t | t o | d e d u c t | payment | ... | where |
| i t would | be | i n t h e c r l p l o y e r ' s f i n a n c i a l | ||||
| i n t e r e s t | t o |
|
| payment | for any day | dn employee cannot be |
| 1 II |
| u s e f u l l y | employed ... | . |
| I n | t h e f i r s t s e n t e n c e | of | t he pas sage | tha t | I have jus t quoted |
,I
| in | us | ing | the | words | where | on | t h e d a y | i n q u e s t i o n | t h 2 r e | i s | hc,rk |
'I
| a v a i l a b l e ' ' | t h e | word | a v a i l a b l e " | \;as | u s e d | i n | t h e | sense used | ( 2 5 |
| I | u n d e r s t a n d i t ) | by | Mr | Jus t ice Spicer | the Chief Judge and | M: |
| J u s t i c e S m i t h e r s | i n | t h e C a r p e n t c r s | ancl | Jo jne r s Case | a t | p. | 3 3 ; |
| i n | s a y i n g : |
| 'l I t | canno t be sa id | thz t an | emplcyee | cannot | be |
| u s e f u l l y | employed | on | a | p a r t i c u l z r day | i f t h e r e | i s |
| a | d a y ' s | work | a v a i l a b l c f o r | him | \$hlch , i f per iorn- .d |
| on | t h a t d a y , | w i l l , | h av ing | r e sa rd | to | the probLlble |
| cour se | o | f | t he | employe r ' s | bus iness , | con t r ibu te |
| b e n e f l c i a l l y | t o | t h e r e a s o n a b l e a n d e f f l c i e n t l' |
| conduct | thereof . |
| For | the | reasons | which | I | have | given | I have core | to | the |
| conclus ion | t h a t | the | respondent had no | r1 | ght undcr | the | award |
| t o s t and down | witliout | pay | i n r e s p e c t | of | 4 | October | 1977 any |
| of t h e 14 employees named i n | t h e | surmons ( a s amended) | except |
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| James | John Murphy who on the ev | ,idence was | employe | d so | lely |
| as the driver of | an electrically operated crane. |
| Accordingly the respondent was in | breach of the |
| award in failing | to pay the 13 employees for 4 October 1977 . |
| I have considered this matter | on the basis that it is |
| a suit for a penalty and not a criminal proceeding for | an |
| offence. In the case of Harris v. Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty Limited (judgment | 2 3 June 1978) I heard |
| argument on this question and decided | not to follow the decision |
| of the Australian Industrial | Court in the Vehicle Builders' |
| Employees' Federation of Australia | v. General Motors Holden |
| Pty Limited (1977) 18 A.L.R. | 634 . |
| As it may be decided by | a full court of this court that |
the correct view of the law is that expressed ln the V.B.E.F.
| - 9 Case | I should add | that if I were to apply the | onus o t proof |
| appropriate to criminal proceedings my decision | on the |
| evidence in this case would be the sane. |
As to penalty, in my view it is relevant that in thc
Carpenters and Joiners Case, as long as0 as 1 9 7 1 , the
| Commonwealth Industrial | Court, speaking of a stand |
| down clause in substantially the | smc terns, said (at p. | 3 3 5 ) : |
| I t ... in each case diligence is required to ensure | that the facts | as to the availabllity of work on |
| large construction sites are ascertained | with some |
| care before ven are | laid | o f f . 1 , |
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.
| I f | t he r e sponden t d ld no t | know | o f t h a t d e c i s i o n | i t |
| ce r t a in ly | ough | t | t o | have | known of It. | On the | ev | idence | be fo re |
| me | I | c o n s i d e r | t h a t | It | f a i l e d t o e x e r c i s e s u f f i c i e n , d i l i g e n c e |
| o r c a r e b e f o r e | making | a | d e c i s i o n | as | t o t h e s t a n d i n z | do-.m | of |
| the | employees. | I t | i s t r u e | that | t h e r e | i s evidence | of | some | c a r e |
| i n t h a t | a quQ2stion was | asked by Mr | S c h o l t z a t the | t ime | as t o |
| whether Mr | B a r r e t t was | s u r e t h a t | no | other employees could be |
| employed | - | a | ques t ion which | led | to | o | ther | employees | be | ing |
| taken | o f f | t h e | l i s t of | employees | to | be | s tood | down. |
| However, | the | respondent | fa i led | to | approach | the | ques | t | ion |
| of | s t and down | i n the proper | way | and | i n p a r t i c u l e r f a i l e d t o |
| approach i t i n | t h e | way expounded I n the Carpenters | and | JolPk:rs |
-
| - | Case. | There | are | two | a s p e c t s as | t o | t h i s . | F i r s t , | t h e | n o t l c c |
| signed on behalf | of | t h e Manager | of | t hc P res ton | Wor1cihops i:eted |
| 3 October | 1 9 7 7 which | said: |
| l 1 It | 1,111 | no | l o n z e r b e p o s s t b l e | t o | employ |
I,
everybody ga infu l ly .
| The | word | "ga in fu l ly" | i s | not | what | the | award says | and in |
| my view i t could not | bc rezsonaSly | thought | to be | a s:;noqr11 | i o r |
| t h e word | "useful ly" which | i s used | in | the award | as | <overnin,- |
| , l |
| employed". | The | provisior, | In the | award | could | not | have | been |
| reasonably | so | i n t e r p r e t e d by | anyone who | s t u d i e d | t h e I-. | Car3c:rtcrq |
| and Jo ine r s | Case. |
| Secondly, a5 Appears from the | eb idence | 01 ?1r | j L h G L t . |
| I, |
| t o which | I | h a v e | a l r e a d y | r e f e r r e d , | t h e | r e s p o n d e n t ' s | u sua l |
| p r a c t i c e h a s a l w a y s b e e n t h a t | t h e y h a v e a t | least | a | day ' s | work |
| a v a i l a b l e f o r | when | t h e v r e t u r n " ( i . e . | t o | work | a f t e r t h e s t a n d |
| - | 1 5 - |
| p | . | *.‘ |
| 1 | down period). | This practice insofar as it was applied as to |
| 1 1 |
4 4 October 1977, related to work which would be useful to the
| employer at or within approsimately 1 month after the resurlption of work upon the lifting of the electricity restrictions. In | ||
| ||
| plainly contrary to the award and to the principles enunciated | ||
|
| In my view this is quite | a serious breach of the awaL.6. |
| On the other hand | I have taken into account the | matters rcferred |
| to by Mr Stockdale this morning and | I accept his submissis:. that |
| on the facts of this | case the standing down of the employ5e5 |
named is to be treated as constituting a single breach of the award. However, it is in my view proper to take into acLomt
| the number of employees in respect | of \,,horn a breach has | beex |
| found | . |
| In all the circumstances, the court imposes | a penalty |
| of $500. | Under s.120 of the Act I order that the whole | of thE |
| penalty be paid to the | Federation which, through Mr Jarrd, has |
brought these proceedings in the interds of its members. I order the respondent to pay to each of the employees namcc! :n
| the summons, other than James | John Murphy, the amount of the |
| respect | under-payment | in | of 4 Oct | -. |
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