COMMERCIAL builder Jerry Hanssen has managed to stall a Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union attempt to force an enterprise bargaining agreement on his business.
He won a stay order on September 25 against an enterprise order the CFMEU succeeded in having made against his business, Hanssen Pty Ltd, by the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission.
Mr Hanssen is appealing the enterprise order made last month.
The terms and conditions of the order follow the union’s draft enterprise bargaining agreement, which includes a 36-hour week, among other things.
The hearing date for the appeal has not been set.
Mr Hanssen said the stay order effectively removed the enterprise order from his business until the appeal was heard.
“The stay order is a strong win for us as it shows the unions that an enforced EBA is not what workers and subcontractors want,” he said.
“The union, the WAIRC and the Government needs to listen to the desires of workers in the industry who do not want to be part of an EBA or part of a union.”
The CFMEU is claiming that the stay order is only a technical victory for Mr Hanssen.
CFMEU industrial officer Karen Scoble said the stay order was merely routine.
“It just means that everything is on hold until the appeal is heard,” she said.
Ms Scoble said her instructions were that Mr Hanssen had not been complying with the enterprise order at all.
“We wrote a letter to him to that effect,” she said.
“However, it’s hard for us to get any enforcement of the enterprise order with the appeal pending.”
The enterprise order against Mr Hanssen’s business caused a lot of concern among business groups.
It meant that any employer that did not wish to enter into an EBA with a union could have one forced on his or her business through the WAIRC via an enterprise order.
Enterprise orders were introduced into WA’s new industrial relations laws and allow a union to ask the WAIRC to arbitrate an outcome if it believes an employer is not negotiating in good faith.
