DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia
(AG2019/818)

FVS FIRE NQ PTY LTD AND CEPU PLUMBING DIVISION FIRE SERVICES UNION COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT 2015 - 2019

Plumbing industry
COMMISSIONER LEE	MELBOURNE, 3 APRIL 2019

Application for approval of the FVS Fire NQ Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Fire Services Union Collective Agreement 2015 - 2019.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the FVS Fire NQ Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Fire Services Union Collective Agreement 2015 - 2019 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia. 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 Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia 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) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 10 April 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 October 2019.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant union, the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), applied for approval of the Fire Services Union Collective Agreement 2015-2019 with FVS Fire NQ Pty Ltd. The respondent, the employer, contested the application. The dispute was heard in the Fair Work Commission, the industrial relations tribunal in Australia.

The central legal issue was whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The union argued that the agreement was fair and reasonable, while the employer claimed it contained provisions that were not genuinely intended to be part of the agreement and thus should not be approved.

The Commission considered the evidence and submissions from both parties. It examined the provisions of the agreement in light of the criteria for approval under section 234 of the Fair Work Act. The Commission found that the agreement was fair and reasonable in all its terms and approved it accordingly. The employer's objections were dismissed, and the agreement was approved as a registered agreement.

The final order of the Commission was that the Fire Services Union Collective Agreement 2015-2019 with FVS Fire NQ Pty Ltd be approved and registered as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009.

Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established