In a landmark ruling Visy is being backed by a Fair Work Commission ruling, upholding its refusal to convert two of its labourers into full time permanent employees, after they were engaged by the company for three months.
The Commission bench rejected an appeal by the AMWU towards an earlier decision upholding the decision. A clause within the company’s EBA made with the union stated that workers should be offered permanent employment if they were to be continuously engaged for longer than three months. A commissioner ruled that the clause was not justified under the Fair Work Act, saying it undermined job security by forcing Visy to increase its permanent workforce irrespective of the circumstances and restricting its use of independent contractors.
Paul Mitchell, industrial relations manager at the PIAA says “I read about the decision this morning and was pleased that the full bench had taken that view.
“Printing Industries welcomes the decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission. There needs to be a clear choice for businesses when considering taking on a casual or labour hire employee as a permanent full time employee. The practical effect of this clause would have been for companies to create two-month casual or labour hire contracts and this is not at all a fair outcome for an employee or for a business. The Fair Work Commission should be commended for considering this clause’s impact on job security and employee wellbeing and industry productivity.”
[Related: Australian Paper workers on strike]
However in contrast Lorraine Cassin, national print division secretary at the AMWU says, “I think it is disappointing and it is another example of how the rules need to be changed. The agreement was made years ago as part of a discussion on how casual workers need to be made permanent and have that security. Without that, there is no prospect of job security.
“The bench is saying it is prohibited content that should have never been in the agreement. We think it is wrong. The problem in that is security, it is a problem for workers and leads to precarious employment. It is an example of why we need to change the laws to make the rules fairer to workers.
“I think it is significant for other printers, they may be doing the right thing by their workers, but they could also hide behind this decision. It is an important ruling, and this is not a small employer.
“We will be campaigning hard against the decision, to bring awareness to other employers and their workers.”
Visy is privately owned by the Pratt family and produces paper and packaging material across 120 locations across Australia, NZ, Thailand and Vietnam with sales in excess of $5bn.
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