Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union v Aero-Care Flight Support Pty Ltd

The Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union (the Union) brought an application against Aero-Care Flight Support Pty Ltd (Aero-Care) for a bargaining order, pursuant to the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Union alleged that Aero-Care had failed to engage in good faith bargaining in relation to an enterprise agreement. The dispute was heard by the Fair Work Commission (the Commission). The key legal issues before the Commission were whether Aero-Care had breached its obligations under the Act to engage in good faith bargaining and whether information provided by Aero-Care to the Union was confidential or commercially sensitive. The Union argued that Aero-Care had failed to provide information necessary for meaningful bargaining and had only provided information that was not commercially sensitive. Aero-Care contended that it had provided all necessary information and that additional information was commercially sensitive and could not be disclosed.

The Commission considered the nature and extent of the information provided and found that Aero-Care had failed to provide information necessary for meaningful bargaining. The Commission held that the information in question was not confidential or commercially sensitive and that Aero-Care had an obligation to provide it. The Commission found that Aero-Care had not engaged in good faith bargaining and made a declaration that Aero-Care had failed to comply with its obligations under the Act. The Union was granted a bargaining order, which required Aero-Care to provide further information and engage in further bargaining with the Union. The Commission also made an order that Aero-Care pay the Union’s costs of the application.