DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Belle Banne (Vic) Hybrid Unit Trust & Fenner Dunlop Conveyor Services Pty Ltd T/A Belle Banne Conveyor Services
(AG2019/782)

BELLE BANNE CONVEYOR SERVICES PTY. LTD. AMWU LATROBE VALLEY COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT 2019

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MASSON	MELBOURNE, 26 APRIL 2019

Application for approval of the Belle Banne Conveyor Services Pty. Ltd. AMWU Latrobe Valley Collective Bargaining Agreement 2019.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Belle Banne Conveyor Services Pty. Ltd. AMWU Latrobe Valley Collective Bargaining Agreement 2019 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Belle Banne (Vic) Hybrid Unit Trust & Fenner Dunlop Conveyor Services Pty Ltd T/A Belle Banne Conveyor Services. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] Pursuant to s.205(2) of the Act, the model consultation term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[4] I note that Clause 16 is inconsistent with the National Employment Standards. Given the National Employment Standards precedence clause at clause 4.5 of the agreement, I am satisfied that the more beneficial entitlements of the NES will prevail.

[5] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, 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.

[6] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 3 May 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 March 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved the Belle Banne (Vic) Hybrid Unit Trust and Fenner Dunlop Conveyor Services Pty Ltd trading as Belle Banne Conveyor Services. The dispute centred on the application for approval of the AMWU Latrobe Valley Collective Bargaining Agreement 2019. The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission, a tribunal with jurisdiction over employment relations matters in Australia.

The central legal issue before the Commission was whether the terms of the proposed agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. Specifically, the Commission had to determine if the agreement met the criteria for being a single interest employer agreement and if it was in the best interests of the employees. The Commission also had to consider whether the agreement was made in good faith and without coercion.

In delivering its decision, the Commission carefully examined the provisions of the proposed agreement and the process by which it was negotiated. The Commission noted that the agreement was negotiated in good faith, with the union and the employer acting in accordance with their respective obligations under the Fair Work Act. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement represented the single interests of the employees and employers and that it was in the best interests of the employees. The Commission found that the agreement met all the necessary statutory criteria and approved the application.

The Fair Work Commission approved the AMWU Latrobe Valley Collective Bargaining Agreement 2019, finding that it was a single interest employer agreement, made in good faith, and in the best interests of the employees. The Commission's approval means that the agreement can now be registered and will have legal effect as a binding enterprise agreement.

Belle Banne (Vic) Hybrid Unit Trust & Fenner Dunlop Conveyor Services Pty Ltd T/A Belle Banne Conveyor Services

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established