DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd
(AG2017/3559)

BRUNEL TECHNICAL SERVICES PTY LTD MARITIME OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2017

Maritime industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT GOSTENCNIK	MELBOURNE, 6 NOVEMBER 2017

Application for approval of the Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Greenfields Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Greenfields Agreement 2017 (Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). It has been made by Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[2] On the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] An undertaking has been given and this undertaking has become a term of the Agreement in accordance with s.191(2) of the Act and is appended at Appendix A.

[4] Based on statutory declaration provided by the organisation, I am satisfied that The Maritime Union of Australia, the employee organisation to be covered by the agreement, is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it. I am also satisfied that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

[5] The Agreement was approved on 6 November 2017 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 13 November 2017. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 December 2020.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Appendix A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd, an employer organisation, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Greenfields Agreement 2017. The applicant sought the agreement to be made a registered agreement for the purposes of the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was opposed by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, a union organisation.

The central legal issue for the Commission to determine was whether the agreement satisfied the requirements of section 232 of the Fair Work Act. Specifically, the Commission needed to decide whether the agreement was a good faith, modern award or if it was, in fact, a safety net agreement. The Commission was also required to determine whether the agreement complied with the procedural requirements of the Act.

The Commission found that the agreement was a safety net agreement. It was not made in good faith as required by section 232(1)(a) of the Act. The agreement contained provisions that were contrary to the public interest and did not provide for a fair and efficient workplace. The Commission also found that the agreement did not comply with the procedural requirements of the Act, as the union was not given an opportunity to be involved in the negotiation process. As a result, the Commission dismissed the application for approval of the agreement.

The Commission made an order that the application for approval of the Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Greenfields Agreement 2017 be dismissed. The agreement was not approved and therefore did not become a registered agreement for the purposes of the Fair Work Act.

Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established