One out, all out

Uncategorized    Friday, October 20, 2017

Federal courts' staff go all-blue collar ... Court bruvvers and sisters united in walk out ... Darrin, please explain ... Rerun for Jeff Phillips at bar elections ... Devious theories behind the Pascoe appointment ... Theodora's Goings On ...

Federal courts’ staff go all-blue collar … Court bruvvers and sisters united in walk out … Darrin, please explain … Rerun for Jeff Phillips at bar elections … Devious theories behind the Pascoe appointment … Theodora’s Goings On …

The management brass has said NO to mediation so the dispute will go to the Fair Work Commission in December. 

To reject mediation is a curious development because the court has been at the forefront of encouraging mediation for cases that otherwise would have go to trial.  

It has even made splendid videos proclaiming the virtues of mediation. 

 

Darrin Moy the executive director of people, culture and communications at the courts, wrote to staff on Wednesday (Oct. 18) telling them that only members of the Community and Public Sector Union could take protected action, but those who took part in the strike would have their pay docked accordingly. 

Any employee not a member of the union who took unprotected action would be “in serious breach of their contract of employment”, Darrin explained. 

Marianne Bastiani, a registrar at the Family Court, wrote a nice response asking Darrin whether she was correct in thinking that protected participants are under no obligation to notify management prior to taking industrial action and are not required to respond if they are asked about it. 

“Please confirm whether my understanding is correct or not.” 

The Federal Court had the same HR director for over 17 years and everything ran relatively smoothly. 

The current trouble finds its genesis in the arrival of the “new brooms” – Catherine Sullivan, the executive director of corporate services, and Darrin Moy, the HR man. 

Both worked together at the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust before Darrin fetched-up with an HR job at Harbour City Ferries. 

Federal courts staff were offered a lousy one percent pay rise earlier this year which was rejected as insulting as there had been no pay increase for four years. New rounds of negotiations got nowhere and last month staff started working-to-rule, i.e. taking lunch breaks, leaving on time and not doing tasks outside their job description. 

More recently everyone was told that the registries of the three federal courts would be merged and jobs would be sliced and diced. 

In early October court staff were handing out leaflets to litigants and lawyers coming into court. The message said: 

“Workloads have increased but staffing has not. A four-year pay freeze and cost-of-living increases mean our wages have gone backwards in real terms. We deserve a sensible agreement that values and respects our contributions.” 

The Community and Public Sector Union has been actively engaged with the staff as they walked off the job. 

 

 

Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus has also been on the front foot, accusing Soapy Brandis of neglecting the courts during his reign as AG. 

 

 

It does seem incredible that these ex-administrative assistants turned HR and IR professionals have seen their staff so alienated and radicalised. It’s not clear  at this point whether strike action will roll on. 

NSW bar n grill elections are in the wind and some hot candidates are out of the blocks. 

Jeffrey Phillips SC from Denman Chambers has made an alluring pitch to the anti-gay marriage, anti-equitable gender briefing, pro-QC faction. In his message to members Phillips said:

“New South Wales barristers will this week receive their ballot papers for the Bar Council 2017/2018. 

I am standing to provide an alternative opinion to the zeitgeist of recent Bar Councils. A complete re-think of the challenges and the direction of the Bar is urgent. A variety of opinions is vital to find a way through the current difficulties.

The Bar is in apparent numerical decline against the increasing numbers of our colleagues in the solicitors’ branch of the legal profession. That fact has meant a loss of work and in turn less necessary advocacy experience for the junior Bar. 

That is not good for the Bar or the solicitors who rely upon a skilled band of advocates available to all. The celebrated ‘cab rank rule’ does not apply to solicitors, particularly the big firms who can pick and choose sides and clients. 

The symbiotic relationship between the two branches of the profession is a result of long held wisdom. 

This relationship is in danger of fracture. The Bar Councils of recent times have done little to restore it. Instead have engaged like university SRCs in peripheral political issues or behaved like Brahmins pretending all is well . 

I stand for the re-introduction of QC.

I support a full embrace of mediation and the role of mediator as a skill for the Bar. My friend Mary Walker must be commended for her tireless campaign to bring this issue to our attention and benefit.

I am opposed to the Bar expressing a view concerning Same Sex Marriage and similar matters of personal choice and conviction. This issue is a very personal one about which the Bar Council did not consult its members.  

The Equitable Gender Briefing policy should be abandoned and more focused assistance be given to those at the Bar who need help.

I would be delighted to receive your support.

Cheers,

Jeff” 

Go Jeff. 

What’s going on? Why was John Pascoe appointed as chief justice of the Family Court when he can serve for only a little over a year in the saddle? 

He was a Ruddock-Howard era appointment as chief judge of the Federal Magistrates Court, now the Federal Circuit Court, taking up the reins after Diana Bryant left to become chief justice of the Family Court. 

He came under the eye of the PM’s brother Stan Howard at Stephen Jaques & Stephen. 

AG Brandis has a reference on family law before the Australian Law Reform Commission but that won’t be finished until after Pascoe is constitutionally forced to retire as a federal judge. 

So, if Pascoe is supposed to be there in a holding pattern until the government can act on the ALRC report then the timing doesn’t work. 

The other possibility is that the Family Court will become a division of the Federal Court so there’s no point appointing a long-term chief justice. 

Pascoe does not normally sit as a judge or deliver judgments – he’s an administrative person. Even though he is called “judge” he does no judging.  

Attorney General Brandis at the swearing today (Oct 20) of Willy Alstergren as chief judge of the Circus Court and Pascoe at the Family Court described their appointments as a “pivotal moment” for the two courts.