DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

AIO Contracting Pty Ltd
(AG2019/3438)

AMWU AND AIO CONTRACTING PTY LTD METALS LABOUR HIRE AGREEMENT 2019-2023

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER GREGORY	MELBOURNE, 30 SEPTEMBER 2019

Application for approval of the AMWU and AIO Contracting Pty Ltd Metals Labour Hire Agreement 2019-2023.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the AMWU and AIO Contracting Pty Ltd Metals Labour Hire Agreement 2019-2023 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by AIO Contracting Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The application was not lodged within 14 days after the agreement was made. Pursuant to s.185(3)(b), in all the circumstances I consider it fair to extend the time for making the application to the date it was actually made.

[4] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 7 October 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2023.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Australian Industrial Organisation (AIO) Contracting Pty Ltd, along with the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU), sought approval of the Metals Labour Hire Agreement 2019-2023 from the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The union and the company applied jointly for the agreement to be registered as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The nature of the dispute centred around the validity and fairness of the proposed agreement terms and whether they met the requirements for registration under the Act.

The legal issues that the FWC needed to address included whether the agreement had been genuinely bargained between the parties, whether it complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act, and whether it met the standards of procedural and substantive fairness. The FWC also needed to consider whether the agreement provided for appropriate mechanisms for dispute resolution and if it adhered to the principles of good faith bargaining.

In delivering its decision, the FWC analysed the evidence provided by both parties and considered the principles of good faith bargaining and procedural fairness. The Commission found that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated between the parties in good faith and that it complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act. The FWC was satisfied that the agreement met the standards of procedural and substantive fairness and provided for appropriate mechanisms for dispute resolution. As a result, the FWC approved the registration of the Metals Labour Hire Agreement 2019-2023. The FWC's decision emphasised the importance of genuine bargaining and the need for agreements to meet the standards of procedural and substantive fairness.

AIO Contracting Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established