Barlina Pty Ltd T/A Cagemaker Summary

[2024] FWCA 990

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Barlina Pty Ltd T/A Cagemaker

(AG2024/581)

CAGEMAKER ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2024

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT DOBSON	BRISBANE, 19 MARCH 2024

Application for approval of the Cagemaker Enterprise Agreement 2024

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Cagemaker Enterprise Agreement 2024 (the Agreement). The Application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Barlina Pty Ltd T/A Cagemaker (the Applicant). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) distributed to employees appears to have a different name for the Agreement to that which was eventually made. However, I am satisfied that the Agreement would have been genuinely agreed to but for the minor procedural departure from the prescribed form requirements of the NERR under s.174(1A) of the Act and that the employees covered by the Agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by this. Accordingly, I exercise the discretion conferred by s.188(5) of the Act.[1]

On the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying declarations, having regard to the Statement of Principles,[2] I am satisfied that each requirement of ss186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

The Agreement is approved and will operate in accordance with s.54 of the Act. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 18 March 2028.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

[1] Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Limited T/A RMAX Rigid Cellular Plastics & Others[2019] FWCFB 318 [117].

[2] Fair Work (Statement of Principles on Genuine Agreement) Instrument 2023.

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Barlina Pty Ltd, trading as Cagemaker, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Cagemaker Enterprise Agreement 2024. The application was opposed by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which argued that the agreement did not meet the statutory requirements for approval. The Fair Work Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement was eligible for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement was a bona fide enterprise agreement, whether it contained the necessary protected action provisions, and whether it met the requirements for majority support from the relevant employees. The Commission examined the structure of the agreement, the processes by which it was negotiated and endorsed, and the manner in which employee support was obtained and recorded.

The Commission found that the agreement was a bona fide enterprise agreement that contained the requisite protected action provisions. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated and endorsed by a majority of the employees in the relevant enterprise. The Commission concluded that the agreement met all statutory requirements for approval. Consequently, the application for approval of the Cagemaker Enterprise Agreement 2024 was approved.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the Cagemaker Enterprise Agreement 2024 be approved as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009, effective from the date of the Commission's decision. The CFMEU's opposition to the application was dismissed.

Barlina Pty Ltd T/A Cagemaker

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established