Kwinana-based privately owned family company TCC Group is not one to shy away from adversity, with the industrial service provider proceeding with court action against a number of its employees, the union and its delegates.
Kwinana-based privately owned family company TCC Group is not one to shy away from adversity, with the industrial service provider proceeding with court action against a number of its employees, the union and its delegates.
Its typical of the fast growing firm which has refused to bow to industrial action which surprised TCC, a long-term advocate of getting along with unions.
That unusual stance helped TCC build the largest industrial painting facility in the Southern Hemisphere, with turnover increasing more than 150 per cent since 2000.
The company workshop coating treatment and onsite touch-up and coating has placed it on some of the state’s biggest projects – including the first three trains on the North West Shelf LNG project and the 2001 Cape Lambert expansion.
It has grown to 700 employees and is in the midst of expanding its operations into the eastern states, with work in Victoria and Queensland.
With so much going on, it would not be surprising it had sought to end its legal action against the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and 40 of its workers in the Federal Court.
Despite reports to the contrary, TCC said the court action remains on track, and it had not reached an out-of-court settlement with the AMWU.
TCC managing director Terry Iannello said the matter relating to industrial action taken at Alcoa’s Pinjarra operations still remained listed in the Federal Court.
“TCC has agreed to an adjournment of the hearing to undertake further discussions with the AMWU,” Mr Iannello said.
“As at 25 September, however, the union has not taken the necessary legal steps required to effect the adjournment and the proceedings remain afoot.
“TCC regrets the misrepresentations made by AMWU officials to workers and remains committed to further consideration of the union’s position should AMWU formally seek an adjournment ahead of the scheduled hearing.”
The company has written to AMWU to correct the misrepresentations to its members and inform them of the actual status of the proceedings.
The AMWU has previously been reported as saying that it stands by claims of an agreement to drop the proceedings and that a new dispute resolution process would take its place.
However, Mr Iannello said talk of a new dispute resolution process was misleading since the company already had a workable dispute resolution process in place.
“We don’t want a big fight…we’ve been having negotiations with them to try to progress things further and avoid any conflict in the future.”
Mr Iannello said the company may look to put the matter on hold following the hearing, or look to defer the case until further discussions take place.
In August, TCC applied to the Federal Court of Australia for damages arising from industrial action by 40 of its employees at Alcoa’s Pinjarra site after a dispute over wage rates.
The workers and the AMWU are being sued up to $28,600 and $10,000 respectively.
The company, at the time, said it had lost more than $1 million over an 18 month period from the strike action.
