R v Williams; Ex parte Australian Building Construction Employees' and Builders Labourers' Federation [1982] HCA 68

R v Williams; Ex parte Australian Building Construction Employees' and Builders Labourers' Federation [1982] HCA 68

The eligibility clause in the Federation's Rules, properly construed, does not extend to the types of structures involved in the applications (electricity transmission towers, steel tanks and furnace stacks, structural steel frameworks) as these are not buildings in the ordinary sense. Thus, the relevant workers are not eligible for membership, the Federation could not create an industrial dispute by serving logs of claims concerning their activities, and the Commission's decisions refusing relief were correct. The orders nisi should be discharged in all applications.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Procedural Posture
Applications for Prerogative Writs (prohibition, Mandamus, Certiorari) / Discharge of Orders Nisi; Final Judgment on Applications
Outcome
Orders nisi for prohibition, mandamus and certiorari in each application discharged.
Legal Topics
['eligibility of Union Membership Under Rules' 'industrial Disputes Under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904' 'interpretation of Eligibility Clauses in Industrial Organization Rules' "scope of 'building' in Building Industry Unions"]
['industrial Law' 'employment Law'] ['eligibility of Union Membership Under Rules' 'industrial Disputes Under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904' 'interpretation of Eligibility Clauses in Industrial Organization Rules' "scope of 'building' in Building Industry Unions"]

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Applications for Prerogative Writs (prohibition, Mandamus, Certiorari) / Discharge of Orders Nisi; Final Judgment on Applications

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the Federation's eligibility clause covers the categories of workers involved (riggers/concrete workers on transmission towers, tank/furnace workers at a smelter, structural steel framework workers)" 'Whether an industrial dispute could exist based on log of claims served by the Federation for these categories of work' 'Whether the Commission erred in construing the relevant eligibility clauses']

Ratio Decidendi

The eligibility clause in the Federation's Rules, properly construed, does not extend to the types of structures involved in the applications (electricity transmission towers, steel tanks and furnace stacks, structural steel frameworks) as these are not buildings in the ordinary sense. Thus, the relevant workers are not eligible for membership, the Federation could not create an industrial dispute by serving logs of claims concerning their activities, and the Commission's decisions refusing relief were correct. The orders nisi should be discharged in all applications.

Court Disposition

Orders nisi for prohibition, mandamus and certiorari in each application discharged.

Orders

  • ['M77 of 1981: Orders nisi for prohibition and mandamus discharged.' 'M41 of 1982: Order nisi for mandamus and certiorari discharged.' 'No. 56 of 1982: Order nisi for mandamus and certiorari discharged.']