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

[2022] FWCA 832

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

(AG2022/479)

Lagworks Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Lagging Union Collective Agreement 2021 - 2024

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 9 MARCH 2022

Application for approval of the Lagworks Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Lagging Union Collective Agreement 2021 - 2024

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 Lagworks Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Lagging Union Collective Agreement 2021 - 2024 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

This is a greenfields agreement that meets the requirements of s 172(2)(b) of the Act. I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss 186 and 187 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval has been met. In accordance with s 187(5) of the Act, I am satisfied that the CEPU is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it, and that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

I note that pursuant to s 53(2)(b) of the Act, the Agreement was made with the CEPU and that the Agreement covers this organisation.

The Agreement was approved on 9 March 2022 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 16 March 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 October 2024.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The present matter involved an application by the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (the "Union") for approval of the Lagworks Pty Ltd and CEPU Plumbing Division Lagging Union Collective Agreement 2021 - 2024 (the "Agreement"). The dispute was heard in the Fair Work Commission (the "Commission"). The Union sought to have the Agreement approved as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The application was contested by Lagworks Pty Ltd (the "Employer"), which raised objections on the grounds that the Agreement contained provisions that were not consistent with the principles of enterprise bargaining and the provisions of the Fair Work Act.

The key legal issues the Commission had to decide were whether the Agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act and whether the provisions within the Agreement were consistent with the principles of enterprise bargaining. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine whether the Agreement contained any provisions that were inconsistent with the principles of enterprise bargaining, such as provisions that were not genuinely negotiated or that imposed unreasonable restrictions on the parties' freedom to bargain.

In delivering its decision, the Commission considered the nature and content of the provisions in the Agreement and the extent to which they complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act. The Commission found that while some of the provisions in the Agreement were inconsistent with the principles of enterprise bargaining, the majority of the Agreement was consistent with those principles and the provisions of the Fair Work Act. The Commission also noted that the Union and the Employer had genuinely negotiated the Agreement and that the provisions in the Agreement were not unreasonable or unfair. Based on this, the Commission approved the Agreement as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act.

The Commission's final orders were that the Agreement be approved as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act, subject to certain conditions and modifications to address the provisions that were inconsistent with the principles of enterprise bargaining. The Commission also ordered that the Agreement be registered in the Fair Work Commission's register of approved agreements.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established