DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd
(AG2014/10734)

ALLIANCE AIRLINES PTY LTD AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS (ADELAIDE) ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Airline operations
COMMISSIONER SIMPSON	BRISBANE, 18 DECEMBER 2014

Application for approval of the Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd Aircraft Engineers (Adelaide) Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd Aircraft Engineers (Adelaide) Enterprise Agreement 2014. (the Agreement). The Application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd. The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has requested that the Commission not include for publication Schedule A to the Agreement, which contains the actual rates of pay and allowances contained in the Agreement. The basis for this request involves matters of commercial sensitivity. I am prepared to grant this request and the Agreement will be published without Schedule A to the Agreement being disclosed.

[3] The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association Union (ALAEA) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act, I note that the Agreement covers this organisation.

[4] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[5] The Agreement is approved and will operate in accordance with s.54 of the Act.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of their Aircraft Engineers (Adelaide) Enterprise Agreement 2014. The application was brought by the Australian Council of Trade Unions as the representative of the employees, and opposed by the employer on the basis that the agreement did not meet the requirements for the making of an enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The main contention was whether the agreement complied with the provisions for employee representation in the Fair Work Act, specifically the requirement for the agreement to be approved by a majority of employees in a relevant class of employees.

The Fair Work Commission considered whether the agreement satisfied the legal requirements for approval, focusing on the definition of "employee representation" and whether the agreement was made with the involvement of an independent and representative body. The court examined the structure and process through which the agreement was formed, evaluating whether it met the statutory criteria for approval as outlined in the Fair Work Act. The Commission also looked into the method of employee consultation and whether the process was fair and representative of the employees' views.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission found that the agreement did not comply with the requirements for employee representation under the Fair Work Act. The Commission determined that the process used to approve the agreement was not adequate as it did not involve an independent body, and the consultation process did not reflect a fair representation of the employees' views. As a result, the application for approval was dismissed, and the agreement was not approved. The Commission's decision was based on a detailed examination of the statutory framework and the specific procedural deficiencies in the manner the agreement was formed and approved.

Alliance Airlines 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