Coles delivery dispute could be nearing an end

A bitter industrial dispute at a Coles warehouse in Melbourne may be close to an end as workers vote on a new deal brokered between the union and management.

Toll Group, which manages the Somerton warehouse for Coles, was to have gone to Fair Work Australia on Monday to appeal a decision by the industrial umpire to delay a scheduled all-staff vote on a wage offer.

Instead, the company abandoned the appeal and held a conference with the National Union of Workers (NUW) to broker a new agreement that will be put to members in a vote on Monday afternoon.

NUW Victorian secretary Tim Kennedy would not go into details of the agreement negotiated over the weekend but said it was likely it would be accepted.

He said he was happy with the deal and if it was accepted it would mean the workers would return to work on Tuesday.

"The union will be recommending the workers endorse that agreement. The effect of them endorsing that today ... will be the strike will be over and work will resume as normal," he told reporters.

The agreement will be voted on by NUW members at a Somerton venue at 4.30pm (AEST).

In seven days, a formal endorsement of the agreement would be sought from all 610 workers, to be registered with FWA, Mr Kennedy said.

Mr Kennedy said the picket line could end on Monday once the deal was agreed.
"We are hopeful that this is the end of the matter," he said.

Mr Kennedy said both sides had made concessions but the new agreement dealt with shift loadings and other issues the union had fought about.

"Our view is it's met all those core claims we've been talking about," he said.

"We're very happy with the outcome."

NUW members have been stopping trucks from entering or leaving the warehouse since July 10 as part of the pay dispute.

Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/deal-likely-in-coles-warehouse-dispute-20120723-22jx2.html