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Issue No. 146 | 26 July 2002 |
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Crean-ite Is Not A Dirty Word
Interview: Trans Tasman Cole-Watch: The Full Story Unions: The Right To A Life Bad Boss: Phoenix Rising Politics: The Virtuous State International: The Champions History: Mandatory Mums Corporate: Network Governance Review: Navigating The Doublespeak Satire: Hector The Galah Found Hiding Poetry: Eight Days a Week
The Soapbox The Locker Room Postcard Week in Review Bosswatch
 No Need To Import IT WorkersKangaroo Court Horrifies ReaderSite Reunites Redundant WorkersCarr Off CourseThe Banners of GreedJoin The PartyShocks and Stares
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News Name Caller Back to Work
LHMU member Brook Shanahan had called his manager a scab, for working through a bitter and lengthy strike last year at the South African-owned, Barloworld Coatings, in Villawood, Sydney. Brook was sacked, nearly 10 months ago, after the ' scab' incident - but he has won his job back with all his outstanding entitlements paid. When Shanahan was dismissed - after a two month long strike at the plant ended in September - he had reportedly called his manager a "scab" and a "Polish stoup" - the Polish word for scab. The Commission was told that his boss claimed he had formally warned Brook Shanahan that such behaviour was "inappropriate". But Commissioner Helen Cargill of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) ruled that there was no valid reason for the dismissal because "in the eyes of the applicant the manager was a scab." Scab in Context Commissioner Cargill justified the use of the word 'scab' in the context of the then recent industrial dispute. After the AIRC ordered in February that Brook Shanahan be reinstated, because his dismissal was unfair, the company, Barloworld, lodged an appeal. A few days back a full bench of the AIRC dismissed this appeal. Commissioner Cargill had said that the employer need to have specifically warned its workers that the use of the word 'scab' would lead to dismissal for the termination to have been fair. Barloworld Coatings in its appeal said the Commissioner was wrong to find no valid reason for the dismissal. The Full Bench rejected the company's appeal, accepting Commissioner Cargill's finding that the manager had been ' unreasonably sensitive in his feelings'. Original Decision In the original decision Commissioner Cargill said: " The applicant was upset about the role played by some managers ... during the dispute and was, perhaps unwisely, not backward in showing those feelings both during the dispute and after the return to work. " I agree that the applicant was being a smart alec and having a go ... but that is not, of itself, reason for termination." Commissioner Cargill said the use of the word "scab" was clearly an insult and should not be encouraged. "It needs to be borne in mind that the word was being used in the two days immediately following the return to work after a lengthy and bitter dispute. "It also needs to be remembered that, in the eyes of the applicant, (the manager) was a `scab'. "In my view the applicant's conduct in the circumstances of this case was not a valid reason for termination. "It was a valid reason for counseling, warning and possibly even suspension, but not for termination."
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