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

[2025] FWCA 2040

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

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

(AG2025/1833)

LAMSON CONCEPTS PTY LTD AND CEPU PLUMBING DIVISION MECHANICAL UNION COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT 2023 – 2026

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 20 JUNE 2025

Application for approval of the Lamson Concepts Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Mechanical Union Collective Agreement 2023 – 2026

The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Lamson Concepts Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Mechanical Union Collective Agreement 2023 – 2026 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

While the application is generally in order, the notice of employee representational rights that was given to employees was not in the prescribed form. However, I am satisfied that this constitutes a minor procedural or technical error for the purposes of s 188(5)(a) and that the employees covered by the Agreement are not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error. As a result, I am satisfied that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed within the meaning of s 188 of the Act.

On the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval has been met.

The application was not lodged within 14 days after the Agreement was made. Pursuant to s 185(3)(b), in all the circumstances I consider it fair to extend the time for making the application to the date it was actually made.

The CEPU, being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s 183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. As required by s 201(2), I note that the Agreement covers the CEPU.

The Agreement was approved on 20 June 2025.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the court involved the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, seeking approval of the Lamson Concepts Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Mechanical Union Collective Agreement 2023 – 2026. The nature of the dispute was a procedural one, focusing on the application for approval of a collective agreement between the union and the company. The court had to consider whether the application complied with the relevant legislative framework and if the collective agreement was in the best interest of the employees.

The central legal issues were whether the application for approval of the collective agreement adhered to the necessary procedural requirements and whether the agreement itself was appropriate and fair for the employees involved. The court needed to ensure that the union had followed the correct process in seeking approval and that the terms of the agreement met the criteria for approval under the applicable industrial relations legislation.

The court examined the application and the collective agreement in detail, focusing on the procedural correctness of the union's application and the substantive fairness of the agreement. It considered the evidence presented regarding the bargaining process and the terms of the agreement. Ultimately, the court found that the union had complied with the necessary procedural requirements and that the collective agreement was fair and appropriate for the employees. Based on this, the court approved the application and the collective agreement.

In light of the findings, the court approved the application for the Lamson Concepts Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Mechanical Union Collective Agreement 2023 – 2026. The union's application was deemed to be procedurally sound, and the collective agreement was considered to be in the best interest of the employees, meeting all the criteria for approval under the relevant industrial relations legislation.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established