Being bossed about by Gatto? Lucky you

Charity functions, corporate negotiations, creditors meetings - they are all on the radar of the Melbourne underworld figure and master networker turned full-time negotiator.

With the Opes Prime creditors fiasco to be settled this morning, Gatto and his associate John Khoury will be able to put to rest another chapter in the story of Arbitrations and Mediations.

Many of the colourful characters who turned to Gatto and Khoury for help when the margin lending company went down have agreed to take the payment offered by Opes Prime bankers ANZ and Merrill Lynch.

Other kinds of chapters have also been on Gatto's radar of late, as he puts the final touches to his autobiography, Mick Gatto: My Story, being penned with former Age journalist Tom Noble. Gatto has negotiated a deal with Melbourne University Publishing, which will print a first run of 30,000 copies.

But there's one other bit of negotiating that hasn't been quite as public from Gatto, even though a copy has fallen into Full Disclosure's inbox.

Along with business partner Matt Thomas, Gatto owns a rather substantial private company called Elite Cranes, which has just negotiated its enterprise bargaining agreement with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

Elite Cranes has supplied equipment and teams for the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Southern Cross Station and the Shell refinery in Geelong. Its client list includes Downer EDI, Pacific National and L. U. Simon Builders.

So, how does Mick rate as a boss? Not too bad, it seems.

After all, the base pay for one of his crane operators is $65,800 a year for a 36-hour week. Overtime is paid at an extra 50 per cent an hour - even more if operators have to work weekends or public holidays. On top of the 6 per cent pay rise that arrived in March, there's another 4.5 per cent next March, and 4.5 per cent the March after that.

According to a source, in the good times many hard-working employees gross well over $100,000 a year.

With rostered days off, the boys at Elite Cranes work a nine-day fortnight. Add the RDOs to the annual leave, and it's a little over nine weeks off a year for his staff, plus public holidays. Not bad at all - you have to praise the CFMEU negotiators in what must have been a nerve-racking deal.

You'd think they were built pretty tough in Brooklyn, where Elite Cranes is based, but no one is allowed to lift more than 20 kilograms without a "mechanical aid", company toilets must be air-conditioned and, under the "inclement weather" conditions of the deal, staff don't have to work if it's raining. If they do work while its raining, they get double time and, if it's over 35 degrees, they go home, to the pub, or to the pool.

To help pay those pesky bank fees, Gatto's staff get $104 a year to cover the cost of actually getting paid. And to make sure they're always turned out nicely, they get two pairs of overalls, two pairs of safety boots, two pairs of drill trousers, two pairs of bib-and-brace overalls and four matching shirts a year.

Every new employee is also entitled to one genuine Tasmanian Bluey Jacket worth a touch over $250. The woollen Bluey Jacket - a brand now owned by Driza-Bone - goes back to 1874, when one was issued to all convicts who arrived in Tasmania to help them survive the harsh winters.

Gatto's staff in convict coats. You have to admit, it's a rather nice touch.

To cap it off, when summer arrives, every employee gets a day off to enjoy the Building Industry Picnic Day, held on the first Monday in December.

See - dealing with Mick isn't always all bad.

Litigation pays

THE role of Hugh McLernon's listed litigation fund IMF comes to a close with today's meeting of Opes Prime creditors in Melbourne, but many have taken note of the company's success.

IMF has pocketed about $2.5 million for its services on Opes Prime and has more than 30 cases under way right now, including litigation or its own investigations into some of the biggest and highest-profile collapses in the country - Centro, ABC Learning Centres, Allco Finance Group, Firepower, Great Southern and Westpoint are all on its radar.

IMF funds legal disputes on behalf of investors for a cut of the return, and distributes any profits to its shareholders. Such is its success, the IMF model is been copied in Britain.

One London-listed company called Juridica already operates in the litigation-funding game, although it has concentrated on supporting American court cases.

Three British lawyers named John Byrne, Neil Purslow and George Brown have announced the float of a #50 million ($A100.6 million) fund called Therium and will support court cases in Britain.

The company will also look to expand into global markets.

Like IMF, Therium and Juridica shun personal injury cases and focus instead on major commercial disputes and corporate collapses.

According to prospectus documents provided to British fund managers, Therium will provide a minimum of #100,000 per case, extending up to #5 million. It predicts a 250 per cent return on investment.