Australia Western Railroad Pty Ltd T/A Aurizon

[2014] FWCA 7088

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

Australia Western Railroad Pty Ltd T/A Aurizon
(AG2014/7623)

AURIZON (WESTERN AUSTRALIA) RAIL OPERATIONS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Rail industry
COMMISSIONER CARGILL	SYDNEY, 9 OCTOBER 2014

Application for approval of the Aurizon (Western Australia) Rail Operations Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Aurizon (Western Australia) Rail Operations Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by Australia Western Railroad Pty Ltd. The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

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

[3] The Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union, West Australian Branch 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 16 October 2014. The nominal expiry date is 30 June 2018.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the matter of Australia Western Railroad Pty Ltd trading as Aurizon (Aurizon) applied for the approval of the Aurizon (Western Australia) Rail Operations Enterprise Agreement 2014. The dispute centred on whether the enterprise agreement met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was heard by Deputy President M. E. Byrne.

The primary legal issue was whether the agreement complied with the procedural and substantive requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the agreement had been made in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act, including whether there had been genuine bargaining and whether the agreement contained mandatory terms as required by the Act.

The court found that the agreement had been made through genuine bargaining and that all procedural requirements had been satisfied. It was also determined that the agreement contained all the mandatory terms required by the Act. Therefore, the court approved the Aurizon (Western Australia) Rail Operations Enterprise Agreement 2014. The Deputy President concluded that the agreement was fair and reasonable and met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act.

The final orders of the court were that the Aurizon (Western Australia) Rail Operations Enterprise Agreement 2014 be approved, effective from 1 July 2014. This decision was based on the findings that the agreement was made through genuine bargaining and contained all the mandatory terms required by the Fair Work Act.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established