Country Fire Authority v United Firefighters' Union of Australia

The matter before the court was an application by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) seeking a good faith bargaining order in relation to the employees of the CFA, who were represented by the United Firefighters' Union of Australia (UFU). The CFA sought the order in the context of negotiations for a new enterprise agreement, which had commenced but were proving to be difficult. The UFU opposed the application and sought that it be dismissed. The case was heard in the Fair Work Commission.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the conditions for the making of a good faith bargaining order were met. Such an order could be made if the Commission was satisfied that a party to the bargaining had failed to bargain in good faith. The UFU argued that the conditions were not met because there was no evidence of bad faith bargaining on the part of the UFU. The CFA, on the other hand, argued that the UFU had failed to bargain in good faith by, among other things, refusing to engage in discussions about certain issues and by not providing information which the CFA had requested.

The Commission held that the UFU had failed to bargain in good faith. The Commission found that the UFU had refused to discuss issues which were relevant to the negotiations and had not provided information which was relevant to those negotiations and which the CFA had requested. The Commission noted that the refusal to provide information and to discuss issues had impeded the bargaining process and had frustrated the purpose of the bargaining. The Commission therefore made a good faith bargaining order.

The Commission ordered that the UFU bargain in good faith and take all necessary steps to reach an enterprise agreement with the CFA. The Commission also ordered that the UFU provide the CFA with the information which the CFA had requested and engage in discussions about the issues which the CFA had raised. The Commission further ordered that the UFU pay the costs of the application.