CARTER HOLT HARVEY PINEPANELS MOUNT GAMBIER AGREEMENT 2013 Summary

[2014] FWCA 3989

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
(AG2014/1262)

CARTER HOLT HARVEY PINEPANELS MOUNT GAMBIER AGREEMENT 2013

Timber and paper products industry
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT O'CALLAGHAN	ADELAIDE, 18 JUNE 2014

Application for approval of the Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Mount Gambier Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Mount Gambier Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] This Agreement maintains the history of complexity established by the parties in the past. Notwithstanding this, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), and the CFMEU, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act, I note that the Agreement covers these organisations.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 26 June 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2015.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Mount Gambier Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Mount Gambier Agreement 2013. The agreement sought to govern the employment conditions of the company's employees in the Mount Gambier region. The dispute centred on whether the agreement met the requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009, including compliance with the better-off-overall test.

The Commission considered the provisions of the agreement and the evidence presented by both the applicant and the employees' representatives. The primary legal issue was whether the proposed agreement provided employees with conditions that were no less favourable than the applicable national award or existing enterprise agreement. The Commission also assessed whether the agreement contained any terms that could be considered contrary to public policy.

The Commission found that the proposed agreement provided employees with conditions that were at least as good as, and in some cases better than, those provided by the applicable national award. The agreement included provisions for wages, leave, and other employment conditions that met or exceeded the minimum standards set by the award. The Commission determined that the better-off-overall test was satisfied, and there were no terms that contravened public policy. Consequently, the Commission approved the agreement, which will operate from 26 June 2014, with a nominal expiry date of 30 June 2015.

CARTER HOLT HARVEY PINEPANELS MOUNT GAMBIER AGREEMENT 2013

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established