Centennial Northern Coal Services Pty Limited

[2013] FWCA 8706

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

Centennial Northern Coal Services Pty Limited
(AG2013/11125)

CENTENNIAL NORTHERN COAL SERVICES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Coal industry
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HARRISON	SYDNEY, 6 NOVEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the Centennial Northern Coal Services Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Centennial Northern Coal Services Enterprise Agreement 2013 (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.

[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] The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have each given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. As required by s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisations.

[4] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s.54(1) it will operate from 13 November 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 12 November 2016.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Centennial Northern Coal Services Pty Limited, applied for the Fair Work Commission's approval of the Centennial Northern Coal Services Enterprise Agreement 2013. The applicant sought to finalise the agreement under section 232 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred around the provisions of the proposed agreement, which was intended to govern the terms and conditions of employment for employees of the applicant company.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the proposed agreement complied with the statutory requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, particularly in terms of its coverage, procedural fairness, and substantive fairness. The court had to determine if the agreement was made in good faith and if it met the standards for approval under the Act. Additionally, the court considered whether any terms of the agreement were contrary to public policy or could be considered oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to employees.

The Fair Work Commission found that the applicant had not adequately demonstrated procedural fairness in the negotiation process, as required by the Act. Specifically, the applicant failed to provide sufficient evidence that it had genuinely attempted to negotiate with the relevant union. Consequently, the court ruled that the proposed agreement could not be approved under section 232 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The court further determined that the application should be dismissed due to the failure to meet the procedural fairness requirements.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established