"Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) v Luke Rowe (Managing Director) T/A Rolls Australia Pty Ltd

[2023] FWC 2780

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.448 - Application for revocation of protected action ballot order

"Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU)
v

Luke Rowe (Managing Director) T/A Rolls Australia Pty Ltd

(B2023/1147)

DEPUTY PRESIDENT HAMPTON

ADELAIDE, 24 OCTOBER 2023

Application for a revocation of a Protected Action Ballot Order in B2023/1044.

A protection action ballot order was issued on 5 October 2023 [1]. The ballot has not yet been conducted.

The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) being the applicant in this matter, has now made an application under s.448 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) to revoke the order.

Section 448 of the Act provides that:

“448 Revocation of protected action ballot order
(1)An applicant for a protected action ballot order may apply to the FWC, at any time before voting in the protected action ballot closes, to revoke the order.
(2)If an application to revoke a protected action ballot order is made, the FWC must revoke the order.”

The requirements of s.448 have been met and the Commission is obliged to revoke the order.

The protected action ballot order made in matter B2023/1044 is hereby revoked.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

[1] PR766851.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU), also known as the "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union", applied to the Fair Work Commission under section 448 of the Fair Work Act 2009 for the revocation of a previously issued protected action ballot order. The respondent in this case is Luke Rowe, the Managing Director of Rolls Australia Pty Ltd. The dispute revolves around the AMWU's application to revoke a ballot order that had been issued on 5 October 2023, before any voting had taken place.

The central legal issue the Commission had to address was whether the AMWU, as the applicant, had met the requirements under section 448 of the Fair Work Act 2009 to successfully apply for the revocation of the protected action ballot order. Section 448 provides that an applicant for a protected action ballot order may apply to the Fair Work Commission to revoke the order at any time before voting closes, and if such an application is made, the Commission must revoke the order. The Commission needed to determine if the AMWU's application met these criteria.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission found that the requirements of section 448 had indeed been met by the AMWU, as the application for revocation was made before the voting in the protected action ballot had closed. Given this, the Commission was obliged to revoke the order. Consequently, the protected action ballot order made in matter B2023/1044 was revoked. The Deputy President Hampton, who presided over the case in Adelaide on 24 October 2023, made this decision based on the clear statutory mandate of section 448.

The final orders of the Commission were that the protected action ballot order made in matter B2023/1044 was hereby revoked. This decision underscores the Commission's role in ensuring compliance with the statutory provisions concerning protected action ballot orders, and highlights the procedural rights available to applicants under the Fair Work Act 2009.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established