Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd

[2022] FWCA 101

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd

(AG2021/9074)

Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2021

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER HUNT	BRISBANE, 14 JANUARY 2022

Application for approval of the Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2021

Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd (the Employer) has applied for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2021 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

Clause 24 of the Agreement provides that: “The model flexibility term from schedule 2.2 of the Act applies.” Pursuant to this Clause, and s.202(4) of the Act, the model flexibility term prescribed by Schedule 2.2 to the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is attached to the Agreement and is taken to be a term of it.

I have taken into consideration the material filed in the Commission. 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. The Agreement does not cover all of the employees of the employer, however, taking into account s.186(3) and (3A) I am satisfied that the group of employees was fairly chosen.

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) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers the AMWU.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 21 January 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 14 January 2025.

COMMISSIONER

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CaseChat Overview and Summary

Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd, an engineering firm based in Queensland, applied for the approval of their Enterprise Agreement 2021. The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the approval of enterprise agreements under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application involved the determination of whether the agreement met the necessary criteria for approval, including the requirement that the agreement must not pre-empt the resolution of a dispute by industrial action and that it must not provide for terms and conditions that are less favourable than the applicable award or safety net award.

The legal issues before the court centred on the interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the Enterprise Agreement 2021 complied with the statutory requirements and did not pre-empt industrial action. Furthermore, the court examined whether the agreement contained terms that were less favourable than the applicable awards.

The Fair Work Commission found that the Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2021 was compliant with the statutory requirements. The Commission noted that the agreement did not pre-empt industrial action and that it did not provide for terms and conditions that were less favourable than the applicable award or safety net award. The Commission concluded that the agreement met all the necessary criteria for approval and granted the application for its approval.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established