DECISION

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

Commonwealth Steel Company Pty Ltd T/A Moly-Cop
(AG2018/1130)

MOLY-COP WARATAH ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 21 JUNE 2018

Application for approval of the Moly-Cop Waratah Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Moly-Cop Waratah Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Commonwealth Steel Company Pty Ltd T/A Moly-Cop. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

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

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 28 June 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 September 2018.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Commonwealth Steel Company Pty Ltd, trading as Moly-Cop, applied for approval of the Moly-Cop Waratah Enterprise Agreement 2017. The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission. The union representing the employees, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), opposed the application on the basis that the agreement did not meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement provided for genuine enterprise bargaining and whether it contained terms and conditions that were fair and reasonable. The Commission examined the process by which the agreement was negotiated, the substance of the agreement, and whether the agreement complied with the procedural and substantive requirements of the Act.

The Fair Work Commission determined that the agreement did meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission found that the agreement was genuinely negotiated between the parties, that it contained terms and conditions that were fair and reasonable, and that it provided for genuine enterprise bargaining. The Commission was satisfied that the process by which the agreement was negotiated was robust and that the agreement was fair and reasonable in all its terms. The Commission approved the application for the agreement to be registered.

The Fair Work Commission approved the application for the Moly-Cop Waratah Enterprise Agreement 2017 to be registered. The agreement will now be registered and will provide the terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement. The decision of the Commission is final and binding on the parties.

Commonwealth Steel Company Pty Ltd T/A Moly-Cop

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established