Branch News from Southern Queensland Branch - MUA
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Event date:
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01 December 2004
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Type:
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Brisbane
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INDEPENDENT STEVEDORING SERVICES
The Branch was advised on Wednesday 24th November that Independent Stevedoring Services had been sold to Patrick Corporation. The sale in all aspects did not involve the labour. The Branch had concluded Enterprise Agreement negotiations with ISS which was inclusive of a Transmission of Business clause. In all circumstances the sale is the same as CSX that occurred in 2001.
Independent Stevedoring Services has been serving the palletised frozen meat trade along the Queensland coast since November 2000. This represents approximately 14 vessels per annum.
The Branch is meeting with Patrick regarding ongoing labour resources and the prospects of ISS supplementaries being engaged on the ¡§B¡¨ Supp. Roster.
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BERTH RELOCATIONS
This matter was raised at the Annual General Meeting with many Rank and File members concerned about what will be the processes involved with:
„X Transfer of Patrick Terminal
„X Relocation of Bulk and General Operations to Fisherman Islands
Assistant National Secretary M. Doleman has written to Patrick who have responded by saying in brief that they do not expect the real impact to take place prior to April 2005.
Patrick¡¦s Management have also indicated their preparedness to meet with the Union in late January 2005 regarding issues that effect the relocation of operations. Patrick have also indicated that AAT are to be represented at the meeting. The Branch has also written to P&O regarding their relocation of B&GS. At the time of writing, no response has been received.
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WORKERS¡¦ COMPENSATION AND REHABILITATION ACT 2003
Changes to Workers¡¦ Compensation Legislation
The Queensland Council of Unions has been negotiating changes to Workers¡¦ Compensation Legislation with the State Government. Following these negotiations, the Government passed amendments to the Legislation which will provide overall benefits to Queensland workers who are injured as a result of their employment. Details hereunder outlines the changes and their effect on injured workers.
Increased benefits
The changes increase benefits for injured workers. Currently an injured worker who is unable to attend work receives 100% of the base rate of their industrial instrument or 85% of their ¡§normal weekly earnings¡¨ or ¡§NWE¡¨. This includes penalty rates, shift allowances etc for the first 26 weeks. After 26 weeks, this is reduced to 65% of NWE or 60% of QOTE (Queensland average earnings). The new legislation provides that after 26 weeks and up to 39 weeks, the reduction will be increased to 75% of NWE or 70% of QOTE, whichever is the greater. The current level of QOTE is $884.80 (70% is $619.36). Another significant improvement to compensation is the removal of the link between weekly payments of compensation and a lump sum payment.
Previously, the total amount of compensation payable to an injured worker could not exceed a maximum of $157 955 which may have been made up of any weekly and/or lump sum payments. The link between these two payments has now been removed.
Improved appeals processes
Currently, all appeals against decisions by Q Comp must be repealed in the Magistrates Court.
This is a very adversarial process where parties are not able to hold conferences to try and resolve matters before they go to trial. It is also very costly to both unions and injured workers as solicitors are usually engaged to appear in these matters. Following a QCU proposal, the Bill provides for appeals against Q Comp decisions to be referred to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission as well as the Industrial Magistrates Court. Injured workers will benefit from this choice as matters before the QIRC will be subject to conferences between the parties before going to trial. This may resolve matters before a hearing is necessary and will be a less stressful and quicker process for injured workers. Further, union officers will be more likely to represent workers at the QIRC which will ensure injured workers and unions will not have to pay for solicitors to run these matters.
The amendments also clarify that disputes about medical expenses only claims are able to be reviewed by Q Comp. Changes have also been made to the pre-proceedings process for common law matters which will ensure quicker settlements for common law claims.
Greater protection for injured workers
The amendments also provide greater protection for injured workers from employers who try to avoid lodging a workers¡¦ compensation claim by paying injured workers for the injury received. This is a very dangerous practice for injured workers as any ongoing issues with injury would not be treated as a workers¡¦ compensation matter and may leave workers with large expenses. Any employer who is found not to be reporting workplace injuries, or who pays a worker who is injured instead of lodging a WorkCover claim, will be subject to a substantial financial penalty which could be as high as 50% of the employer¡¦s WorkCover premium. The amendments also clarify employment relationships, such as labour hire, by stating that if a worker is employed by a labour hire firm, the labour hire firm is still the employer even if the worker is contracted to another employer. The amendments also remove a loophole where an employer could prove that they weren¡¦t the employer when in reality they are.
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Quicker decisions for physical
injuries
The time allowed for an insurer to make
a decision about physical injury claims
has been reduced from three calendar
months to 40 working days. This means
that injured workers will receive
compensation earlier as insurers will
have to decide matters about a month
quicker than the current requirement.
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