Govt appeals against industrial umpire

The federal government has lodged its first appeal against a decision by the new
industrial umpire.
Fair Work Australia ruled in February that individual flexibility arrangements would
not be allowed at Melbourne-based automotive parts maker TriMas.
The decision tests an election promise Labor made in 2007 to allow employees to make
flexibility arrangements with their boss if they wanted their individual working
conditions altered.
The flexibility clause became part of the Fair Work Act of 2009.
In the TriMas case, commissioner John Ryan ruled the terms of the Waterview Close
collective bargaining agreement could not be varied, only the "effect of the terms
of the agreement".
This means workers cannot seek to have terms in their collective agreement changed
to suit their personal circumstances.
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has criticised the ruling for being
"unnecessarily technical".
She called on Fair Work Australia to respect the wishes of the company and its
workers to allow individual changes to their collective agreement.
"The wishes of the parties should be given effect," the minister said in a statement.
The Australian Industry Group, which is supporting the government appeal, said the
ruling was confusing for the employers and workers.
"If you take the example that's there, you have individuals wanting to agree with
their boss to start work early but Ryan says that would be varying the agreement,"
the group's director of workplace relations policy Stephen Smith told AAP.
The government's appeal is listed for a hearing before the full bench of Fair Work
Australia on April 21.
This is the first time the government has lodged an appeal against Fair Work
Australia since its inception in January.
A previous appeal against Fair Work Australia, over the union right of entry, was
launched by the Ai Group last week.
The government is backing that appeal, which questions the approval of an enterprise
agreement between NSW company Dunlop Foams and the National Union of Workers in
February.
Ms Gillard has previously supported Woolworths in its appeal against Fair Work
Australia.
The supermarket giant successfully challenged a ruling insisting on compulsory
arbitration in enterprise agreements.