Young, Digby v Australian Workers Union - [1984] FCA 418

Re: DIGBY YOUNG
And: THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS' UNION
Nos. NSW 34 of 1982; NSW 27 of 1983
Industrial Law

COURT

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY
INDUSTRIAL DIVISION
Gray J.

CATCHWORDS

Industrial law - registered organizations - validity of rules - construction - entitlement of members to vote - whether rules contravene or fail to make a provision required by the Act or the Regulations - control of committees by members - whether rules impose unreasonable restriction on members who pay contributions by instalments.

Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 s. 140(1)(a), s. 140(1)(c), s. 133(1), s. 4(1)

Conciliation and Arbitration Regulations reg. 115(1)(d)(v), reg. 115(2)

R. v. Dunphy, Ex Parte Maynes (1978) 139 CLR 482

Re Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees Union or

Australia: Ex Parte Farrow (1976) 27 FLR 430

Boland v. Munro (1980) 48 FLR 66

Leveridge v. Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (1977) 31 FLR 385

Lovell v. Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (1978) 35 FLR 60

HEARING

MELBOURNE

#DATE 7:12:1984

ORDER

THE COURT ORDERS THAT pursuant to s. 140(6) of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, the proceedings are adjourned until 9.30am on Friday 15th March 1985 at Sydney, for the purpose of giving the Respondent an opportunity to alter its rules.

JUDGE1

Before the Court are two Rules to Show Cause. The first, in matter N.S.W. No. 34 of 1982, was granted by Sheppard J. on 16th July 1982. The second, in matter N.S.W. No. 27 of 1983, was granted by St. John J. on 12th September 1983. By consent, both were heard together.

The Applicant is a member of The Australian Workers' Union ("the Union"), an organization of employees registered pursuant to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 ("the Act"). Each Rule to Show Cause is granted in reliance upon s. 140 of the Act. The essence of the complaint of the Applicant is that members of the Union who pay their contributions to the Union by authorizing their employers to deduct from their wages small amounts of money on a regular basis, and to pay those amounts to the Union, are not permitted by the rules of the Union to vote in elections for officers.
The facts are mostly agreed. The Union has approximately 130,000 members throughout Australia. By virtue of rule 6 of its rules those members may be employed in any of a wide range of industries. Rule 37 of its rules provides for a branch in each state. A branch is governed by a branch executive, or in the case of a branch in which districts are formed, a delegate meeting. Within branches, elections are held for branch officers, namely a President, two Vice-Presidents and a Secretary. In branches without districts, these officers, together with five elected members, constitute the branch executive. In branches with districts, the officers together with a representative from each district constitute the branch executive. See rules 59, 78, 79 and 83. In addition, elections…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

AGLC: Young, Digby v Australian Workers Union [1984] FCA 418
Case: [1984] FCA 418
Decision Date: 07 DECEMBER 1984

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of Young, Digby v Australian Workers Union, the court was presented with a dispute concerning the validity of certain rules governing the operations of the union. The crux of the issue was whether these rules contravened or failed to meet the statutory requirements outlined in the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 and the Regulations. Specifically, the case focused on the rules related to the entitlement of members to vote and the control of committees by members, as well as whether the rules imposed an unreasonable restriction on members who paid contributions by instalments. The Federal Court was tasked with interpreting the union's rules and determining their compliance with the legislative framework.

The court was required to address several key legal issues. Firstly, it had to ascertain whether the union's rules were consistent with the statutory provisions concerning the voting rights of members. Secondly, it needed to examine whether the rules adequately provided for the control of committees by members, as mandated by the Act and Regulations. Thirdly, the court had to determine if the rules placed any unreasonable restrictions on members who opted to pay their contributions in instalments. These issues were pivotal in deciding the validity of the union's rules and their alignment with the legal standards set forth by the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 and the Regulations.

The court meticulously reviewed the union's rules and found that they did not contravene or fail to meet the statutory requirements in the manner alleged. However, the court identified certain provisions that could be interpreted as imposing unreasonable restrictions on members who paid contributions by instalments. Consequently, the court determined that these provisions were invalid. Given this finding, the court exercised its discretion to adjourn the proceedings to allow the union an opportunity to amend its rules to rectify the identified issues. The adjournment was set for 9.30am on Friday 15th March 1985 at Sydney.

Orders

Orders of the court

THE COURT ORDERS THAT pursuant to s. 140(6) of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, the proceedings are adjourned until 9.30am on Friday 15th March 1985 at Sydney, for the purpose of giving the Respondent an opportunity to alter its rules.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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