About Mick
Mick is a workplace lawyer with expertise in industrial relations negotiations, bargaining, and dispute resolution in the state public sector. He also advises clients from the construction, resources, electricity, manufacturing and transport sectors on industrial relations and employment related matters including bargaining and disputes, contractual drafting and interpretation and discipline and termination issues. Mick provides workable business solutions that focus on advancing his clients’ commercial position.
He advises domestic and international clients on all aspects of the employment relationship.
His experience includes advising owners and contractors on large industrial projects on workplace strategies to control labour cost and limit lost time due to industrial action. He has also directly negotiated enterprise bargaining agreements and other business solutions with unions for a number of major mining contractors.
Mick has advised and represented a number of State Government departments in relation to the arbitration of deadlocked enterprise bargaining negotiations and obtained orders to stop industrial action for employers in the mining, construction and manufacturing sectors.
He advises clients on business restructures and takeovers including managing the redundancy process and all legal issues surrounding termination of employment. Mick’s experience working in-house (on secondment) at Groote Eylandt Mining Company in the Northern Territory (a subsidiary of BHP Billiton) and at Virgin Blue Airlines assists him to provide practical and commercial advice to his clients.
Specialisations
Experience
Queensland Health
Successfully represented Queensland Health on all aspects of the award modernisation process. Mick led the team which assisted with drafting the modern awards and represented Queensland Health in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission to secure awards that reflected the desires of Queensland Health.
Australian Steel Milling Services (ASMS)
Successfully represented ASMS in a dispute in the Fair Work Commission brought by the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) trying to prevent ASMS from implementing an operational solution which would reduce the number of employees working in its client’s blast furnace. Mick successfully convinced the Commission that ASMS was not prohibited from reducing employee numbers in the blast furnace. This allowed ASMS to continue its implementation of new more productive methods of work.
Murphy Pipe & Civil
Successfully represented Murphy Pipe & Civil in adverse action claims brought by the Australian Workers’ Union in the Federal Court and the Fair Work Commission. After successfully having the AWU’s Fair Work Commission claim dismissed, it withdrew its related action in the Federal Court.
Queensland Ambulance Service and Department of Fire and Emergency Services
Successfully represented both the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Fire and Emergency Service in arbitrations of enterprise bargaining negotiations in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
Cement Australia
Successfully represented Cement Australia in responding to wildcat industrial action taken by its NSW drivers. Orders stopping the strike were granted within 24 hours of its commencement.
WDS Mining
Representing WDS Mining in an unfair dismissal claim brought on behalf of 15 WDS employees who were made redundant from Tahmoor coal mine when WDS ceased work at the mine. The case involved complex arguments about the obligation on WDS Mining to redeploy employees whose positions are made redundant.
Thiess
Successfully represented Thiess in actions and appeals in the Fair Work Commission and Full Federal Court defending protracted attempts by the CFMMEU to prevent approval of an enterprise agreement for a new coal mine in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.
MACA Mining
Successfully advised and represented MACA obtain Fair Work Commission approval for a new enterprise agreement for a new coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin despite attempts by the CFMMEU to prevent (and then appeal against) Commission approval.
Stopping industrial action in mining industry
Mick has successfully obtained orders from the Fair Work Commission for mine owners, contractors and suppliers. He represented a major multinational mine owner to obtain the first orders under the Fair Work Act stopping industrial action on behalf of an affected third party. Orders stopping the industrial action were obtained within 24 hours of instructions being received. He also successfully represented a major multinational mining equipment supplier in an action to stop industrial action affecting one of its major mining clients.