Notification under section 130 by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (New South Wales) of a dispute with the Broken Hill Chamber of Commerce and others re alleged breach of award [2003] NSWIRComm 250

Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales

CITATION : Notification under section 130 by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (New South Wales) of a dispute with the Broken Hill Chamber of Commerce and others re alleged breach of award [2003] NSWIRComm 250 APPLICANT: PARTIES : Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union New South Wales Branch RESPONDENT: Broken Hill Chamber of Commerce Incorporated FILE NUMBER: 4880 of 2002 CORAM: Sams DP Industrial dispute - mining industry in Broken Hill - alleged breach of award - Commission's power under s175 of the Act - principles of award interpretation - payment of lead bonus to employees of contractors - change of mine ownership - relationship between award and mine agreement - incentive and performance bonus - previous decisions of the Commission on the same subject matter - alleged contempt of the Commission - economic circumstances - local contractors unable to compete. CATCHWORDS : Held, words in award clause not ambiguous - words given their plain, ordinary English meaning - lead bonus no longer exists - absurd and impractical result - mineworkers' conditions have no relevance or application to employees of contractors - mineworkers' performance bonus unrelated to previous lead bonus - interpretation of award clause consistent with previous Commission decisions - award clause does not include payment of lead bonus - unnecessary to consider economic arguements - no breach of the award - no contempt of the Commision. LEGISLATION CITED : Industrial Relations Act 1996 Australian Workers' Union New South Wales Branch and WJ & A Seery [2000] NSWIRComm 62 Australian Workers' Union, New South Wales Branch and Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales [2003] NSWIRComm 49 Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, New South Wales Branch and Fillery Antiwear Products and Sandblasting re failure to comply with award (unreported, Bishop C, IRC98/1294, 23 November 1998) Broken Hill Chamber of Commerce Inc. and Barrier Industrial Council re Broken Hill Commerce and Industry Consent Award [2002] NSWIRComm 89 Broken Hill Commerce and Industry Consent Award (No.2) [2002] NSWIRComm 309 Broken Hill Mining Managers' Association and Barrier Industrial Council re log of claims (unreported, Cahill J, IRC84/603, 9 May 1984) Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd and the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers' Union of Australia, New South Wales Branch, Re Tank Tops [1961] AR (NSW) 312 City of Wanneroo v Holmes (1989) 30 IR 362 Cooper Brookes (Wollongong) Pty Ltd v The Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia (1980) 147 CLR 297 CIC Insurance Limited v Bankstown Football Club Ltd (1997) 187 CLR 384 Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (New South Wales Branch) v Delta Electricity [2003] NSWIRComm 135 Fox v GIO Australia Ltd (2002) NSWIRComm 318 Hotville Pty Ltd v New South Wales Nurses' Association [2002] NSWIRComm 338 CASES CITED : Kellogg (Aust) Pty Ltd v National Union of Workers, New South Wales Branch (1998) 89 IR 391 Kingmill Australia Pty Ltd t/as Thrifty Car Rental v Federated Clerks Union of Australia, New South Wales Branch (2001) 106 IR 217 Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees' Union of Australia, New South Wales Division, and Cessnock City Council re competency payments (unreported, Sams DP, IRC99/975, November 17, 1999) National Union of Workers v Graincorp Operations Ltd (2002) 117 IR 136 New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union and New South Wales Fire Brigades [2003] NSWIRComm 55 Norwest Beef Industries Limited and Anor v Australian Meat Industry Employees Union of Workers (WA Branch) (1985) 12 IR 314 Pasminco Australia Ltd (subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) and anor and Australian Workers' Union, New South Wales Branch and others re industrial action [2003] NSWIRComm 235 Re State Rail Authority Firefighters Award 2001, [2002] NSWIRComm 159