Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd

[2013] FWCA 9769

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a greenfields agreement

Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd
(AG2013/11824)

BRUNEL TECHNICAL SERVICES OFFSHORE PTY LTD WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE AGREEMENT 2012

Manufacturing and associated industries
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT WATSON	MELBOURNE, 12 DECEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the Brunel Technical Services Offshore Pty Ltd Western Australian Onshore and Offshore Agreement 2012.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Brunel Technical Services Offshore Pty Ltd Western Australian Onshore and Offshore Agreement 2012 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd and two employee organisations namely the “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) (AMWU) and Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU). The agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[2] I have considered the matters contained in the employer declaration and the declarations made on behalf of the AMWU and the CEPU which will be covered by the Agreement.

[3] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met. In accordance with s.187(5)(a) of the Act, I am satisfied that the employee organisations, taken as a group, are 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.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 19 December 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 14 February 2014.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, Brunel Technical Services Pty Ltd applied for the approval of the Brunel Technical Services Offshore Pty Ltd Western Australian Onshore and Offshore Agreement 2012. The dispute arose from the negotiation and subsequent proposed endorsement of an enterprise agreement between the company and its employees. The Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement met the necessary requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement was a genuine enterprise agreement. This involved assessing if the agreement was made in good faith, whether it covered a relevant workforce, and if it was made in accordance with the procedural requirements of the Act. The Commission also needed to consider if the agreement met the criteria of being a "single, integrated, and comprehensive" agreement that dealt with the employees' terms and conditions of employment.

The Commission found that the agreement was genuinely made in good faith and covered the relevant workforce. It was also established that the agreement was comprehensive and dealt with the employees' terms and conditions of employment. The Commission noted that the agreement had been the subject of extensive negotiation between the parties and that it met the requirements of being a single, integrated agreement. Consequently, the Commission approved the agreement, finding it met all the necessary legal criteria for endorsement under the Act.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Brunel Technical Services Offshore Pty Ltd Western Australian Onshore and Offshore Agreement 2012. The Commission declared the agreement to be a genuine enterprise agreement and ordered that it be registered. This decision set the terms and conditions of employment for the relevant workforce and provided a framework for future negotiations between the parties.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established