Shame file

Justice and the law two different things

Accounts manager John Bevan, suffering from bowel and liver cancer, worked for the company for 43 years, and believed the company was waiting for him to die to avoid the payout.

"The company is behaving in an appalling fashion," news.com.au (January 24) reported Mr Howard said.

But news.com.au also reported Mr Howard said Tristar had not broken the law.

"What has broken down here is the moral sensitivity of the company," Mr Howard said.

news.com.au reported Mr Howard said the Government could not force the company to do the right thing without enacting an unworkable change to the law.

After the intervention of newly-announced Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey, the company wrote Mr Bevan a redundancy cheque, but about 50 other Tristar workers, member of the Australian Workers Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, haven't been so lucky.

The Tristar Steering and Suspension Australia Limited Certified Agreement ran out in September 2006 and the company applied to the Industrial Relations Commission to terminate it. On January 22, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission terminated the agreement.

The company has ceased production in Sydney, but for now is keeping its workers on the payroll.

Agreement-based redundancy provisions are preserved for a maximum period of 12 months after an agreement is terminated by an employer, so AMWU NSW official Martin Schutz who alleges there is no work for them to do, expects the company will continue to employ them until the 12-month protection expires.

Once the 12-month period of protection ends workers' payouts would be restricted to 12 weeks' pay, but Mr Schutz said under the agreement some workers would be entitled to about $210,000 in the case of a redundancy and a further $40,000 in accrued sick leave.

He said it was cheaper for the company to keep the workers employed for 12 months than pay them redundancies now.

Landmark decision on sacking

When Village Cinemas Australia's Doncaster, Victoria cinema complex was closed for demolition, cinema manager Warren Carter was the only staff member whose employment was terminated, with other staff redeployed to other suburban complexes. Mr Carter had wanted to take long service leave, hoping a position within the company would come up in the interim, but he was refused.

He made a successful unfair dismissal claim but this was overturned by a landmark decision of the Australian Industrial Commission full bench on January 15, which determined "the operational reason relied upon by the employer need only be a ground or cause for the termination of the employment of an employee".

Workers get the boot

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Last Modified: 08 Feb 2007